After a first-half which saw neither goalkeeper troubled at the LNER Community Stadium, an early flurry of goals in the second-half was the only breakthroughs on the day.
Lewis Richardson first scored, which was also his first for the club, after chipping an effort over Fabian Mrozek from a perfect Alex Hunt.
But that lead would be short-lived, as Forest Green drew level just four minutes level with Harry Cardwell powering a header beyond Harrison Male – despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to the attempt.
Neither team would be able to clinch what could have been an important three points, in a result which does York no favours in their pursuit of leaders Barnet.
The match saw second-placed York welcome third-placed Forest Green, with both teams desperate to keep the pressure up on leaders Barnet, who won 1-0 this afternoon against Dagenham & Redbridge after a 93rd minute strike.
Barnet’s lead at the top has moved to 11 points, with nine matches remaining in the Bees’ title charge.
York on the other hand headed into their Forest Green contest in search of a response, after dropping to an unlucky 2-1 defeat against Altrincham in midweek.
That was after a goal line clearance, a crossbar and some impressive goalkeeping kept York at bay, with some questionable defending proving costly for the Minstermen.
They had enjoyed back-to-back wins prior to that, with three points against both Maidenhead United and Hartlepool United.
It was arguably the perfect time to play Cotterill’s Forest Green too, after a dip in form in recent weeks.
After a run of no league defeats since late-September, Forest Green were undone in a 2-0 defeat to Braintree Town in February, before their next run of four matches only included one win, one defeat and two draws.
Hinshelwood was forced into changes with the run of matches continuing to pile up, as Tyrese Sinclair, Cam John, Josh Stones and Marvin Armstrong were allowed a rest – all dropping to the bench.
In their place came Junior Luamba, Jeff King, Ashley Nathaniel-George and Richardson, who slotted into a number ten role in Armstrong’s absence.
Forest Green had lost 2-1 at FC Halifax Town in midweek, with Cotterill opting for three changes against City.
Liam Sercombe, Harry Cardwell and captain Ben Tozer were brought in, with Harvey Bunker and Joe Quigley dropping to the bench.
Meanwhile, defender Cian Harries was left out of the squad due to illness.
For all of the hype for a match between two teams contesting promotion for this season, the first-half failed to live up to the hype.
Whilst there was a level of intensity that was acceptable and even some end-to-end stuff at times, no goalkeeper was troubled in the opening 45.
The biggest chance of the half fell Forest Green’s way and in just the fourth minute, as Charlie McCann pulled the ball back to an onrushing Garrick, who couldn’t take advantage from nine-yards out, slicing wide of Harrison Male’s goal.
York’s switches were looking to make an impact, but Richardson’s strike didn’t progress past Tozer, whilst Nathaniel-George worked his way into a promising position, to only see another effort stopped by a defender.
City came close as Richardson bent an impressive deep cross onto King, but the right-back couldn’t direct his header on target from close-range.
Ollie Pearce arrowed a header goalwards from an Alex Hunt free-kick, again blocked, before Forest Green’s McCann poked a harmless effort wayward of goal.
With 45 minutes played with no real test for either goalkeeper, it would have been hard to predict that there would have been two goals in the opening eight minutes of the second-half.
It was a welcome start to the second period for City, as the Minstermen took the lead.
After Pearce held off his defender to lay the ball back to Hunt on the halfway mark, a perfectly weighted pass sent Richardson through one-on-one.
Richardson showed immense composure to just coolly lift the ball over the onrushing Mrozek, propelling York into a 1-0 lead.
An opener early in the second 45 looked to give City the boost they needed, having survived a brief scare from a Forest Green corner, with Hunt then volleying an almost incredible strike towards goal – which narrowly missed the target.
Forest Green then found a route back into the contest, with Garrick proving to be a thorn in the side for King.
After meeting a pass down the wing, the winger expertly lifted a cross into the area and onto an unmarked Cardwell, whose powerful header proved too strong for Male.
York’s main difficulty of the night was their inability to register shots on target, with Hunt first dragging a harmless effort wide, before his midfield partner Dan Batty followed suit.
They came close again when Stones, brought on in place of goalscorer Richardson, laid the ball into Hunt, who toe-poked an effort over from inside the area.
Forest Green almost stole the points late on as Sercombe volleyed a ferocious effort narrowly wide, but in the end there would nothing to separate the two promotion hopefuls.
YORK CITY: MALE 6, KING 5 (JOHN, 65), FAGAN-WALCOTT 6, HOWE 6, FELIX 7, BATTY 6, HUNT 7, NATHANIEL-GEROGE 6 (SINCLAIR 6, 65), RICHARDSON 7 (STONES 6, 65), PEARCE 6, LUAMBA 7 (JOHN-LEWIS, 85)
SUBS NOT USED: WATSON, AGUIAR, ARMSTRONG,
GOALS: RICHARDSON (48)
YELLOW CARDS: NATHANIEL-GEORGE (42)
FOREST GREEN ROVERS: MROZEK, OSADEBE, INNISS, TOZER, ROBSON, MAY, MCCANN, SERCOMBE, GARRICK (FLEMING, 85), CARDWELL (QUIGLEY, 72), MCALLISTER (KNOWLES, 82)
SUBS NOT USED: LONG, MCCORMICK, BUNKER, DOIDGE
GOALS: CARDWELL (54)
YELLOW CARDS: OSADEBE (32), FLEMING (90+3)
YORK’S STAR MAN: ALEX HUNT. A hard-working performance and an assist for the midfielder.
REFEREE: OLLIE YATES
ATTENDANCE: 6,810 (302)
SHOTS (ON TARGET): 8 (1) | 5 (1)
CORNERS: 3 | 5
FOULS: 8 | 7
OFFSIDES: 1 | 1
