Police looking into footage of National League player appearing to strike fan in dramatic final-day match

York City scored an added-time equaliser against Rochdale to secure promotion back to the English Football League. George Wood/Getty Images Share articlePolice are looking into an incident where a York City player appeared to strike a supporter during the National League title decider against Rochdale on Saturday. Both goals in the 1-1 draw came in second-half stoppage time and prompted pitch invasions from both sets of supporters, which led to the arrests of five fans. Josh Stones scored an equaliser in the eighth minute of added time to clinch promotion back to the English Football League and pip Rochdale to the fifth-tier title, prompting wild celebrations from the visiting fans at Rochdale’s Spotland Stadium. His close-range finish came after Rochdale thought they had done enough to go up when Emmanuel Dieseruvwe put the home side ahead in the fifth minute of stoppage time. With victory being enough for Rochdale to condemn York to the play-offs, a celebratory pitch invasion followed Dieseruvwe’s opener as hundreds of fans poured on from three sides of the club’s home. It was during this incursion that the apparent altercation took place, with footage widely circulated on social media appearing to show a York player clash with a fan on the field. The footage, filmed from an area of Spotland that houses home supporters, appears to show the player on his knees with his head to the ground, with one fan appearing to lean over the player. Stewards attempted to break up the confrontation, just as the player appeared to strike the fan. The player remained on the pitch and the game restarted after a six-minute delay. On the restart, City launched one final attack that eventually saw Stones net the equaliser and prompt another pitch invasion, this time from the away section. Greater Manchester Police confirmed to The Athletic that four Rochdale supporters had been arrested after the game: two on suspicion of pitch incursion, one on suspicion of assault and pitch incursion and one on suspicion of a public order offence. One York fan was arrested on suspicion of assault. GMP added that they were in contact with both clubs over the footage involving the player and the fan and would be further assessing the video and reviewing CCTV. The Athletic has contacted York, Rochdale and the National League for comment. When speaking to The Athletic after the game — and before the footage involving the York player had emerged — Stones claimed to have been abused by Rochdale fans during the first invasion. “I was taking all that s**t from their fans, coming up to my face,” Stones said. “(It was) Nice to give it them back.” After another much shorter hold-up to clear the pitch once again, play resumed and the final whistle blew almost straight away to spark a huge party for York, both at Spotland and back at their home stadium, where 4,500 fans had followed the events on a big screen. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms