Nine and a half seconds. If you sync up footage of Ollie Pearce’s opening goal against Northampton on Saturday with Usain Bolt's world record 100m sprint, so that Pearce takes the kick-off just as the starting gun fires, you'll see the net bulge just as the Jamaican crosses the finish line. Alternatively, you could sync it up to a soundtrack of Seven Nation Army, in which case you'll hear the famous riff played twice then the drum kicking in exactly as the ball sneaks under helpless Northampton goalkeeper Zach Jeacock. Or you could just watch the goal and enjoy it on its own merits. The point is, City’s first goal came remarkably quickly, and set the tone for an FA Cup tie in which their progression to the second round never looked in doubt.
Such a comfortable afternoon for York seemed far from inevitable before kickoff. The Minstermen were coming off the back of two consecutive defeats, and facing a Northampton side that had held them to a draw in the league just four weeks earlier. To add to City head coach Scott Lindsey's concerns, he was consigned to the stands to serve a touchline ban as a result of his dismissal in the loss at Barnet. Lindsey opted to make three changes to his side, bringing Joe Felix back into the line-up along with Ollie Banks and Hiram Boateng.
It was Banks’ idiosyncratic kickoff routine that led to Pearce's lightning-fast opener. Pearce took the kickoff himself, passing to Banks who flicked the ball up then launched it towards the Northampton area. The Cobblers’ defence failed to deal with the delivery, and Elliott Moore's header was sent straight into the path of Pearce, who powered a volley between the outstretched arm of keeper Jeacock and the post. It transpired that the goal wasn't quite City's fastest ever, with Paul Aimson having found the net after just 9 seconds of a game against Torquay in 1971, but it was quick enough that a fair chunk of the crowd were probably still taking their seats.
Energised by that early goal, Pearce then capitalised on a mistake by the visitors to add a second in the 11th minute. The City striker intercepted a short pass from Lee Evans, then carried the ball from inside his own half to the edge of the area. With only Banks forward in support, rather than attempting a cross Pearce opted to cut inside and hit a curling effort that sailed beyond the static Jeacock and into the far corner. The Northampton stopper was substituted just afterwards, and will not look back fondly on a game that saw him appear for 12 minutes, pick the ball out of the net twice and injure himself in the process of conceding the first.
A third goal was almost added just two minutes later after Pearce made another run down the left then cut back to Arthur Read, but his attempt was blocked and Joe Felix fired over from the rebound. York did make it 3-0 just before the half hour mark, though. Banks’ cross came through to Harry Boyes on the left, and Boyes played a pass inside to Alex Hunt whose delicate side-footed finish crept inside the near post. Hunt now has three goals from his last four games, and Lindsey's faith in his attacking prowess was reflected by a more advanced position for Hunt in this game.
That third goal felt definitive, with Northampton's poor goalscoring record this season making a comeback seem highly improbable. They did go close just before half-time when Owen Dale - again their most impressive player as he had been in the league meeting last month - hit a strong left-footed effort from the edge of the area that fizzed narrowly over the bar. But York had also missed chances for further goals, the best of which being a goalbound shot by Hunt that was headed over by a Cobblers defender.
City's comfortable lead, and the visitors' lack of incision in the final third, meant that the second half played out as something of a procession. Zech Medley was introduced as a half-time substitute in place of Mark Kitching, and a triple substitution on the hour mark saw Alex Newby, Frankie Maguire and Josh Stones enter the fray. The only chance of note in the intervening fifteen minutes had fallen to Dale, who headed over after being found by a Lee Evans cross from the right.
York's substitutes seemed to reinvigorate the team's attack, and twice in quick succession City were able to forge decent openings by winning the ball back in the final third. First, Pearce capitalised on a defensive mistake and found himself with a chance to seal a hat-trick, but his rushed shot was comfortably saved by Northampton substitute keeper James Dadge. Then, Dadge was again tested by a Stones effort from the edge of the area. Lindsey added a further attacker from the bench in Jovan Malcolm not long after, and he went close with a cross-cum-shot that took a deflection and had to be palmed over by Dadge.
A fourth goal finally arrived to add a gloss to the scoreline nine minutes from time. Banks sent a trademark long diagonal pass across to the right flank where Felix collected it before playing a perfectly-timed cross that Stones met with a sliding finish for his first goal since April. It was a reward for an encouragingly lively cameo from Stones, who had admitted earlier in the week that his performance at Grimsby had shown a lack of match sharpness.
City advance into the FA Cup 2nd round for just the second time in the past 15 years, where they will be hoping for a gentle draw to ease passage to the 3rd round and the prospect of a possible meeting with a top-flight giant. This was Lindsey's first victory in the competition, albeit with the caveat that he spent the game up in the stands while Gary Elphick conveyed instructions from the dugout. One can only hope that he'd at least settled into his unfamiliar seat within nine and a half seconds of the game getting underway, to witness the kickoff routine he has introduced giving his side the perfect start.
