Paul Bastock takes an early bath
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Solomon Shields and Paul Bastock were both sensationally sent off as St Albans City slithered to a highly controversial 3-2 Blue Square South defeat to Welling United at Park View Road on Tuesday evening.
Trailing to two early goals, one of which was smartly headed home by former City favourite Lee Clarke, St Albans were down to ten men a minute before half time when Shields was dismissed for allegedly going ‘over the top’.
The decision of referee Matt Foley to dismiss the midfielder was a most bizarre one as the Rotherhithe official actually awarded the free kick in the Saints favour. It was far from the only decision by the match official that was to come under closer scrutiny.
The sending off of Bastock midway through the second half was equally questionable. Bastock was shown a red card for supposedly bringing down Clarke as the Wings striker lifted Ryan Frater’s weak headed back pass over the keeper and fell dramatically to the ground as he attempted to round his one time close friend.
Bastock claimed not to have touched Clarke and if there was contact it did appear to be minimal.
Saints manager Steve Castle suggested that the former City captain indulged in a piece of gamesmanship. On the one previous occasion when Bastock has been ordered off whilst with St Albans it was none other Clarke who saw out the remainder of the game in goal.
Castle resisted the temptation to play the available Paul Hakim from the start and instead showed faith in the side that defeated Eastleigh at the weekend. But the manager’s faith was not rewarded for more than hour.
City were lethargic from the off and Welling were quick to realise that their first points of the season could soon be on the board.
Even so, it was City who almost made the early breakthrough with only Jack Parkinson’s excellent interception denying Gary Cohen a clear opening following Alex Bailey’s low cross.
But City were soon on the back foot as Andy Ford’s constant cajoling of his players from the technical area bore fruit. Bastock moved swiftly to save at the feet of Jake Hobbs and the Saints keeper was quickly back in the thick of the action to save a Clarke header from Rob Hughes’ cross.
Despite not yet being in the peak of condition Clarke began City’s downfall when skipping around James Quilter and laying the ball off for Michael Deane to open the scoring on nine minutes with a powerful drive into the visitors goal from ten yards.
James Fisher blocked efforts from Parkinson and Hobbs in a crowded penalty area before Clarke, on 18 minutes, got behind Fisher to meet Deane’s free kick from the right and head the ball downwards and past Bastock from six yards.
With the game less than a quarter gone City looked all at sea and certainly seemed unlikely to retrieve the situation when their first two corners struggled even to make it into the penalty area.
Worse was to come when Luke Thurlbourne was cautioned for a trip on another City old boy, Sam Hurrell, but again it did appear that Thurlbourne had made contact with the ball and was clearly none too impressed when shown a yellow card.
City almost fell further behind on 27 minutes when Clarke’s looping header from Deane’s cross from the Wings right appeared destined for the top corner until Bastock just managed to claw the ball away.
Thurlbourne’s involvement lasted only until just after the half hour mark when Castle decided it was time to make a change and replaced him with Hakim. Castle shuffled his pack to accommodate the change and by the end of the night virtually all of City’s outfield players sampled life in different positions to the ones they started the game.
Any hope of City salvaging a point just about vanished on 44 minutes with Shields premature exit. Referee Foley deemed the midfielder to have carried on through on Steve Perkins after the Welling man had committed the initial foul. Shields reaction to the red card was one of utter dismay.
From the ensuing free kick Frater drove the ball cleanly but straight at home keeper Charlie Mitten. Having finally achieved an on target shot City went close again seconds later as Danny Green seized upon an error by Perkins and fired a blistering effort just a whisker wide from the edge of the penalty area.
Castle made his second team change at the start of the second half with the attacking Green substituted in favour of midfielder Darren Quinton. But within eight seconds of the restart St Albans almost fell further behind when Hobbs cut into the penalty area and tested Bastock with a low shot that the keeper gathered without fuss.
Two minutes later Clarke dispossessed Adam Everitt and crossed to the back post where Deane expertly brought the ball down but somewhat wastefully hammered it back across the face of the goal.
Ten minutes into the half and City at last began making some inroads into a Welling defence that had leaked seven goals in its first three outings.
Quinton headed over from an Everitt cross while a long crossfield ball from Quilter found Everitt whose cross to the back post was superbly volleyed goalwards by Hakim but blocked by the solid right arm of Mitten. Hakim was quickly onto the loose ball but under pressure could get little power into his follow up effort and Mitten saved again.
The promise of better things to come continued with Cohen heading over from a Fisher corner before Bastock was called upon to save Perkins header from Deane’s cross.
The game appeared to be pretty much all over on 63 minutes when Clarke demonstrated his undoubted class in bringing down Perkins cross from the Wings right and laying the ball off for Andy Sambrook to score his first goal for the Kent club.
Quinton then opened his account with the Saints on 66 minutes with an outstanding goal. Cohen threaded a ball through the middle of the home defence that Quinton took in his path and majestically jinked his way past two defenders with a couple of exquisite touches before hammering the ball low past Mitten.
Any genuine thoughts of City’s ten men really putting pressure on the home side took a nose dive on 69 minutes when Frater’s misjudged header led to Bastock’s controversial exit.
Once Clarke went down Bastock’s fate was sealed but so gentle did any touch appear to be it that seemed that Clarke really had robbed himself of a goal that was at his mercy had he stayed on his feet.
As a shirtless Bastock left the field Everitt donned the green jersey and was relieved to see the resulting free kick – the offence having taken place outside the penalty area – struck straight into the City wall.
Everitt later admitted that he hand never previously played in goal, his antics during the final 20 minutes already suggested as much.
His first contribution was to miss a cross, his second saw him slide out to grab the ball only for it to bounce away from him off his knee, he completed by the clearance by racing out of his penalty area to win a tackle and clear the ball down the right touchline.
Clarke remained in the spotlight and received a yellow card for an all too familiar piece of petulance as he blocked Quilter’s attempt to take a free kick.
Welling’s eleven men should have seen the remainder of the game out in comfort but instead it was a nervy time for the Wings especially when, on 77 minutes, Cohen bore down on goal only to be hauled down in the penalty area by Deane following Quilter’s long ball.
Remarkably, Mr Foley saw no reason to produce a card but City did further reduce the deficit as Quinton’s spot kick sent Mitten the wrong way.
A dramatic evening at Park View Road almost took another twist four minutes from time when Quinton cracked a fine effort just over the target from 20 yards. City had two further half chances to embarrass their hosts but a third goal did prove elusive.
Shields and Bastock will each receive a three-match ban starting with the trip to Chelmsford City on 5 September. Chelmsford were actually represented at Welling on Tuesday night with former City captain Ben Martin looking on from the main stand.
Adam Everitt, sent off in City’s opening day of the season defeat at Dorchester Town, begins his three-match suspension with this Saturday’s home game against Lewes. |