York City produced a dominant display at the LNER Community Stadium, dismantling Yeovil Town 4-0 to move to the top of the National League table. The match swung decisively in York’s favour just ten minutes in, when Yeovil’s Finn Cousin-Dawson was shown a straight red card for violent conduct. This early dismissal left the visitors with a mountain to climb, and York wasted little time in capitalising.
Barely a minute after the red card, Ollie Pearce opened the scoring, pouncing on the disarray in the Yeovil defence to give the home side the lead. Already reeling from the sending off, Yeovil struggled to contain York’s relentless attacks, and their attempts to regain a foothold were further hampered by yellow cards for Aaron Jarvis and Michael Smith. Just before half-time, York extended their advantage. A flowing move culminated in Marvin Armstrong providing the assist for Tyrese Sinclair to finish clinically, sending the home supporters into raptures as the half-time whistle blew. Yeovil manager Mark Cooper responded by replacing Jarvis with Josh Sims at the break, hoping to spark a revival.
Despite a brief spell of Yeovil pressure early in the second half, York’s numerical advantage continued to tell. In the 63rd minute, Pearce grabbed his second goal, expertly converting a chance created by Malachi Fagan-Walcott. His hat-trick was complete just eight minutes later, with Alex Hunt providing the assist for a clinical finish that capped off a superb individual performance. Both sides made further substitutions as the game wore on, with York comfortably controlling proceedings and Yeovil seeking to limit the damage. The visitors’ misery was compounded late on when Dominic Bernard received a second yellow card, reducing them to nine men. The final whistle eventually brought an end to a torrid afternoon for Yeovil.
The emphatic victory propelled York to the summit of the National League, building on their recent impressive form. While York had already won their previous two matches against Yeovil, this resounding win served to further underline their superiority in the head-to-head record. For Yeovil, the defeat saw them slip to ninth in the table, one place below their pre-match position.