Daniel Chillingworth headed his first goal for St Albans City as the Saints ended their four-match losing streak with a gritty 1-1 draw at Clarence Park on Saturday with promotion hopefuls Havant & Waterlooville.
The draw was a result that manager Steve Castle admitted he would have quite happily accepted prior to the game but his struggling side, in fact, came within 15 minutes of handing the Hawks their second defeat in five days.
Had City won all honours would have gone to a defence that was under sustained pressure after the interval yet mostly restricted the visitors to shots on goal from outside the penalty area. Even so, the Saints enjoyed more than a modicum of good fortune as three efforts thudded against the home crossbar.
Castle made two changes from the side well beaten in midweek by Staines with Alex Bailey relegated to the bench and Paul Hakim unavailable. City’s ‘man for all positions’ James Quilter covered for Bailey at right back while Daniel Chillingworth, some 21 months after making his debut, was given his first start up front alongside Drew Roberts.
Havant boss Shaun Gale also made two changes following the surprising 4-3 defeat at Dorchester the previous Tuesday. Out went Sam Pearce and Steve Hutchings as Gary MacDonald striker Mustafa Tiryaki were recalled.
Tiryaki was highly impressive when last at the Park with Maidenhead in April, and although hindered by injury this season he was still a handful for the Saints this time around.
Overall, the game seldom reached any great heights but was none the less interesting as City stuck to their guns throughout and displayed the grit and determination possibly lacking in some recent matches.
The Hawks certainly enjoyed a territorial advantage but for a side with thoughts of moving onto greater things there was a surprising lack of cutting edge around the penalty area.
The opening ten minutes really set the tone for the afternoon. Havant appeared strong and confident early on and soon won two corners, yet it was City, with a wild off target effort from Drew Roberts, who had the first attempt on goal.
The visitors, playing down the slope towards the Hatfield Road goal, had their first shot on 13 minutes but Wes Fogden’s accuracy was also found to be wanting.
The addition of David Galbraith to the City squad looks likely to be a significant capture and on 14 minutes the one time Tottenham Hotspur youngster, now 25, won City’s first corner when his free kick was headed to safety by Tiryaki.
Galbraith swung the resulting corner in left-footed from the City right with Chillingworth beating MacDonald to the ball at the near post and heading firmly into the York Road goal. The relief at taking the lead in a match for the first time in eight games was plain to see. It was also only the fifth goal City have scored in open play this season.
Roberts blotted his copybook when cautioned for a ludicrous dive on 18 minutes and was followed into the book shortly after by Adam Everitt for a robust challenge on Hawks skipper Ian Simpemba.
Just prior to the half hour the Saints benefited from their first slice of good fortune when Manny Williams, the early season leading scorer in Blue Square South, cracked a drive into the face of the crossbar from 20 yards out, the pressure was maintained until Everitt managed to block a cross for a corner.
City hit back positively with a route one move that almost produced a second goal. Ryan Frater launched a long ball towards the edge of the visitors penalty area that Chillingworth challenged for, the ball ran kindly to Roberts whose crisp shot was parried and then gathered by Hawks keeper Aaron Howe.
As expected, Havant enjoyed the greater share of the balance of play after the interval but as City’s four-man midfield faded so the defence grew stronger.
Tiryaki made his presence felt soon after the restart when, despite appearing off balance, he lifted the ball over Bastock from 22 yards only to see it bounce back into play off the crossbar, this time Quilter moved across swiftly to clear the danger.
A minute later Quilter picked up City’s 21st yellow card of the season following a foul on Fogden.
Midway through the half the two sides exchanged long shots with both goalkeepers keeping an attentive eye as the ball flew perilously close to the target. Tiryaki was within a yard of the City crossbar with a magnificent effort from 30 yards, while City’s Luke Thurlbourne was a smidgen higher when trying his luck from 25 yards.
Havant midfielder Shaun Wilkinson became the 22nd opposition player to be cautioned this season when giving some rough treatment to James Fisher who was making a surprise appearance after being laid out during the match against Staines.
The Hampshire side kept City pinned down with two successive corners but with Frater and Mark Peters powerful in the middle of the defence, and Quilter and Everitt working tirelessly to restrict the supply from the flanks, Bastock was able to enjoy a relatively quiet afternoon.
That said, the ever reliable keeper was faultless when called upon to deal with crosses and free kicks.
City’s resistance was finally breached on 75 minutes and it was messy goal that could so easily have broken the Saints fragile confidence. Substitute Hutchings rose to meet a high ball outside the penalty area, Everitt appeared to have the situation under control as the ball broke loose only to be bundled out of the game by Williams who then strode into the penalty area to claim his 11th goal of the season in just ten appearances.
The wonderful late summer sunshine was unable to save the match from being played in front of the smallest attendance for a game between these two sides but those present almost seemed resigned to City going down to a fifth successive defeat now that the Hawks were back on level terms.
Instead, just a minute later, St Albans were presented with a glorious opportunity to regain the upper hand. Jamie Thurlbourne, on for the tiring Galbraith, crossed from the left. Chillingworth went for the ball at the near post with the sphere falling perfectly to Roberts some eight yards out. But, as the faithful waited to see the net bulge, the ball sailed high over a relieved Howe’s goal.
Back came Havant again with Fogden sending a fine snap shot a few yards wide while substitute Luke Nightingale was denied a penalty when claiming for handball by Frater as he tried to beat the City skipper.
City survived another scare on 85 minutes when Fisher inadvertently headed a free kick from Havant’s Steven Walker into his own penalty area. As the ball fell Jay Gasson appeared well placed to secure victory only to blaze his volley well over the City goal.
Three minutes later the busy Saint woodwork was shaken again as Fogden cut in from the Havant left and clipped a right-footed effort onto the top of crossbar.
And in the first of almost five minutes of added time St Albans escaped again as Williams, down the Waterlooville right, slid the ball into the path of Walker whose ground shot from the edge of the box went across Bastock and just wide of the keeper’s right hand upright. |