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20.03.2004 at 15:00 Clarence Park

Attendance : 195

St Albans City

0 - 1

Harrow Borough

Referee : Mick Cairns Ryman Premier League

Goalscorers
None. Robert Charles (4)
Opening squads
George Clark
Richard Thomas
Dave Sargent
Corey Campbell
Chris Zoricich
Steve Castle
Gary Wraight
Steve Watts
Lee Clarke
Neil Gough
Will Davies
Keita Karamoko
Steve Dogbe
Clemente Lopez
Wayne Walters
Richard Goddard
Dean Marney
Ross Fitzsimon
Daniel Dyer
Robert Charles
Abudlai Yoki
Fabio Valenti
Substitutes
Wesley Jackman
Miguel De Souza
Greg Deacon
Graeme Butler
Chris Seeby
Danny Moore
Naoki Mouri
Craig Nicholson
Osman Hasan
Substitutions
Miguel De Souza -> Richard Thomas (70)
Greg Deacon -> Steve Castle (79)
Chris Seeby -> Corey Campbell (90)
Danny Moore -> Daniel Dyer (60)
Naoki Mouri -> Abudlai Yoki (76)
Yellow cards
Steve Castle (62)
Gary Wraight (90)
Richard Goddard (64)
Red cards
None. None
Match report

Steve Castle challenges at a very wet Clarence Park
St Albans City’s future looks increasingly like it will be in the Ryman League rather than the highly vaunted new look Conference following a harsh defeat in atrocious conditions at Clarence Park to fellow strugglers Harrow Borough on Saturday.

Harrow have staged a remarkable recovery since the appointment of David Howells as manager four months ago but Boro rode their luck in condemning City to their 18th Premier Division defeat of the season and leaving Steve Castle with the fourth worst record of any Saints manager.

Robert Charles fourth minute goal put Harrow on the path to their first win at St Albans for eight years but that the visitors extended their recent good run to one defeat in six away games owed much to two outstanding saves by goalkeeper Keita Karamoko and some familiar wayward City finishing.

Given the virtually flooded then muddy pitch and ferocious high winds, both sides deserve credit for producing a reasonable spectacle with City applying most of the pressure only to fail to score for the 10th time in 22 league games under Castle.

City almost got off to the perfect start as Gary Wraight, from fully 30 yards, unleashed a glorious drive of awesome power that Karamoko could only admire as it whistled within a hairsbreadth of his right hand post. But tragedy struck for the Saints a minute later when the ball skimmed off Castle’s head and was then miscontrolled by Will Davies whose error allowed Charles to nip in, take the ball forward and fire past George Clark for the only goal of the game.

It was a dreadful moment for Davies who was starting a league game for the first time but he did well to put it behind him and went on to give an otherwise satisfactory performance. Indeed City bounced back positively with Castle and Lee Clark forcing Karamoko into outstanding full length saves in the most difficult of conditions for the keeper. Karamoko was, however, less impressive when Clarke beat him to a Wraight corner only for the ball to be hacked off the goalline.

A promising spell for the visitors petered out when Castle, sliding through the mud, made a vital interception while Clark did well to save a well placed free kick from Clemente Lopez. Karamoko made one more good save before the interval, again from Clarke, after Steve Watts had smartly headed on a Chris Zoricich cross.

Despite the strength sapping conditions City continued to offer the greater threat after the break and the Boro goal was fortunate to stay intact on 49 minutes when Neil Gough’s powerful angled shot thudded into an upright, the rebound bounced goalwards off the incoming Wraight only for exSaint Richard Goddard to clear from a yard out.

Karamoko tipped over a Dave Sargent free kick from just under the crossbar and Richard Thomas sent a header narrowly wide from a Castle free kick before Clark made an important save with his feet from Charles as Harrow almost poached a second unwarranted goal.

A spell of pressure late in the game almost brought reward for the Saints but the nearest they came was a shot a yard wide from the edge of the box by Gough after good work involving Sargent and Watts.

Report by Dave Tavener
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