Lancaster City 3-2 Farsley Celtic

The match looked like a hopeless task, City 2-0 down after a woeful opening 75 minutes only for a Ryan Winder brace and a last-gasp winner from Craig Carney to save the day.

Phil Brown’s side looked completely out of sorts for the majority of the game on a very difficult playing surface.

Simple passes and even clearances at times were being scuffed and mishit as a misfiring first-half saw Lancaster trail at the interval.

A penalty for handball on 20 minutes was fiercely hit by Richard Marshall, the ball hitting the roof of the net via the glove of Mike Hale.

The only other clear chance of the half fell to visitors, Hale’s reaction save from close range preventing prolific striker James Walshaw from doubling Celtic’s lead.

There were a couple of half chances for City, Carney narrowly firing over and then dragging a shot wide later in the half, but for the most part it was 45 minutes to forget for the Giant Axe side.

The second half wasn’t any better in the early stages as neither side created clear-cut chances.

As the game neared the hour mark City did begin to finally find their feet.

First Glenn Steel had a far-post header tipped around the post before Carney blazed over from six yards after picking up a knockdown.

The points then looked to be sealed however as Farsley doubled their lead with just 20 minutes left to play.

Adam Clayton lost his marker to glance a header from a corner into the net via the inside of the post.

Five minutes later and the Dollies finally had their breakthrough, the lifeline coming thanks to a wonderful solo effort from Ryan Winder.

Collecting Jacob Gregory’s pass just outside the box, the winger drove into the area, took the ball past two defenders and fired a low shot into the bottom-left corner.

The match was then one-way traffic and with just four minutes left on the clock City were level thanks to a thunderous Winder volley.

As Farsley cleared a cross high into the air Winder watched the ball down and hit a crisp first-time volley that dipped beautifully into top corner.

It was a goal that looked like it would rescue an all-important point for Brown’s side but the best was yet to come.

Farsley were caught pushing too many men forward in added time and City broke.

A defensive mistake allowed Jordan Connerton to thread the ball through to Carney who took one touch just outside the area before hitting a low and sweetly struck shot that nestled into the bottom corner.

The game-winning goal sparked massive celebrations on and off the pitch for one of the best comebacks in club’s history, one that could also have massive implications come the end of the season.

Lancaster City: Hale 8, Birch 7, Steel 7, Mercer 7, Jarvis 8, Winder 9, Wills 7, Akrigg 7 (Sumner 65), Gregory 7 (Mayers 71), Carney 8, Connerton 7. Subs not used: Westwood, Clark, Shearwood

Star Man: Ryan Winder - Second goal alone worth the admission.