York City hoisted aloft The Buildbase FA Trophy for the second time in five years after a dramatic victory over Macclesfield Town at Wembley Stadium connected by EE.
The Minstermen may have suffered relegation from the National League but their season ended in a blaze of glory by emerging victorious at the home of English football.
With eight minutes on the clock, York gleefully accepted their first goalscoring chance of the game, veteran striker Jon Parkin, playing at Wembley for the third time after previously featuring for both Fleetwood Town and Forest Green Rovers, glancing home a header from a Danny Holmes delivery.
But it took just six minutes for Macclesfield to get back on level terms, Rhys Browne latching onto the ball on the right side of the penalty area and firing into the net through the legs of Minstermen keeper Scott Flinders.
With just 22 minutes gone, York went ahead again as Sean Newton was set free in the box and slid a low cross towards the far post, where Vadaine Oliver was on hand to slide home his third Trophy goal of the season.
But back came Macclesfield, with Minstermen keeper Kyle Letheren forced to take flight to spectacularly tip away Danny Whitaker’s curling long-range attempt just past the half-hour mark.
Five minutes later, two more opportunities for the Silkmen to draw went begging as Whitaker was denied by Letheren at close-range before goalscorer Browne left his marker for dead and weaved his way toward the six-yard box superbly but blazed his attempted finish over the bar.
York looked set to safeguard their 2-1 lead right through until half-time but in added time before the break, Macclesfield’s Ollie Norburn powered home an unstoppable scorcher from 25 yards to tie things up.
Three minutes into the second period, the Minstermen almost regained their lead in freak fashion as a clearance smacked Oliver square in the face and the ball flew not far past the post, with Flinders caught unawares.
As the half wore on, Antigua & Barbuda international Browne stung the palms of Letheren while the dangerous Whitaker snapped a volley just wide of the upright as he connected with a York defensive header.
In the 65th minute, Chris Holroyd and Browne combined to tee up Mitch Hancox, whose strike was beaten away by Letheren, and shortly afterwards, Kingsley James’ volleyed effort was superbly headed off the line by York’s ex-Macclesfield man Hamza Bencherif.
With just over 10 minutes to go, Silkmen midfielder James slipped in Browne, whose effort was charged down by stopper Letheren – and then came the late drama.
Parkin bustled and barged his way into a shooting position and let fly, with his strike looping towards goal and being poked over the line by substitute Aidan Connolly to win the day for the Minstermen.
Macclesfield Town: 22 Scott Flinders; 2 Andy Halls (capt), 4 Neill Byrne, 5 George Pilkington, 3 David Fitzpatrick; 7 Rhys Browne, 14 Kingsley James, 15 Ollie Norburn, 23 Danny Whitaker, 16 Mitch Hancox; 9 Chris Holroyd
Substitutes: 6 John McCombe on for Byrne 67, 30 Luke Summerfield for Hancox 87, 29 Anthony Dudley on for Norburn 89
Substitutes not used: 13 Craig Ross, 8 Danny Whitehead
Manager: John Askey
Goals: Browne 13, Norburn 45
York City: 28 Kyle Letheren; 36 Daniel Parslow, 10 Yan Klukowski, 37 Hamza Bencherif; 8 Simon Heslop (capt), 33 Sean Newton, 17 Asa Hall, 35 Danny Holmes, 9 Amari Morgan-Smith; 29 Vadaine Oliver, 31 Jon Parkin
Substitutes: 34 Adriano Moke on for Klukowski 45, 12 Aidan Connolly on for Hall 69, 2 Shaun Rooney on for Holmes 75.
Substitutes not used: 13 Luke Simpson, 21 Scott Fenwick
Manager: Gary Mills
Goals: Parkin 8, Oliver 22, Connolly 86
Referee: Paul Tierney
Attendance: 38,224
