Maidstone were caught out by York’s Chelsea formation but came good and might even have won had they been awarded a late penalty.

City players admitted United should have had a spot-kick after Alex Flisher was taken out by keeper Kyle Letheren but instead the Stones substitute was booked for diving.

United, though, had to look at the bigger picture and a 1-1 draw against relegation rivals was a good result given York should have been out of sight by half-time.

The Minstermen, on a run of one defeat in nine, led through Jon Parkin after three minutes and missed big chances to put the game to bed after surprising United with a 3-4-3 system.

It forced United to switch to 4-4-2 and with Flisher on at half-time the impact was instant as Reece Prestedge levelled.

The draw moved them out of the National League relegation zone and up to 20th.

Stones boss Jay Saunders said: “To be fair, I wasn’t expecting them to do what they did.

“They went a bit Chelsea on us and went 3-4-3. I’ve sat and watched three games yesterday and probably five of their games this week and they’ve pretty much been 3-5-2 in all of them.

“They chucked the 3-4-3 in and where we had three at the back it caused us problems early on and we couldn’t deal with it.

“I felt once we changed it and got Flish on it gave us a bit more balance and I thought second half we dominated really and defended a lot better, which was important.

“It’s great when you go out and get that early equaliser - it's a great strike from Reece.

“It sets you up and I’m just disappointed really that we haven’t got the penalty.”

York players confirmed Flisher should have had a penalty following Letheren’s 78th-minute challenge - and Saunders felt it would have been given up the other end.

He said: “It’s definitely a penalty. I’ve just spoken to three of their players at the end there and they’ve all said it’s a stonewall pen.

“If that’s up the other end in front of that big crowd, I think he gives that for York but there you go.

“We can’t grumble, we’ve just got to move on with the point. I think it’s a good point for us.

“I know people look at it and say they’re bottom of the league but they’re one defeat in 10, they’ve got that feel about their squad where they’ve brought new players in and they fancy themselves and we’ve come here and made them look very average second half.”

Read the match report from Maidstone's 1-1 draw at York.