St Albans City F.C. History & Archives - Fixtures & Results | St Albans City F.C. History & Archives

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18.03.2006 at 15:00 Sparshatts Stadium

Attendance : 357

Eastleigh

0 - 2

St Albans City

Referee : Richard Palmer (Bath)

Conference South

Goalscorers

None	Paul Hakim (50) Gary Elphick (85)

Opening squads

Wayne Shaw
Martin Thomas
Ian Oliver
Steve Forbes
Rob Marshall
Richard Hodgson
Danny Smith
Andy Forbes
Dave Town
David Hughes
Ryan Ashford

Paul Bastock
Tom Davis
Gary Elphick
Ben Lewis
Matt Hann
Ranbir Marwa
Paul Hakim
Lee Clarke
Ben Walshe
Lee Flynn
Chris Seeby

Substitutes

Nick Stauroulakis
Jack Smith
Sam Stannard
Alan Walker-Harris

Dean Cracknell
Mark Burgess
Andrew Ross
Amos Foweya
Patrick Ada

Substitutions

None	Patrick Ada -> Paul Hakim (86) Amos Foweya -> Ben Walshe (90)

Yellow cards

Steve Forbes (8)

Gary Elphick (16)
Lee Clarke (41)
Ben Lewis (69)

Red cards

None	Gary Elphick (85)

Match report

St Albans City maintained the pressure on Conference South leaders Weymouth on Saturday with a fine win in difficult conditions at Eastleigh’s sand-covered Sparshatts Stadium but had the gloss taken off their 24th league success of the season by the outrageous dismissal of defender Gary Elphick seconds after scoring the second goal.
Referee Richard Palmer, whose dismal display angered players and supporters alike, having already cautioned Elphick for a first half foul, sent the former Brighton defender packing for going beyond the goalline to celebrate his goal with City fans. If all referees were to adopt Mr Palmer’s hideous pigheadedness then we can look forward matches finishing as farcical four-a-side kick-abouts.
The attention-seeking match official aside, this game will fade swiftly from memory but it was a success achieved through graft on a day made difficult by a swirling wind that drove, predominantly, diagonally towards the end City were defending during the first half.
Making their first league appearance in a league match at Stoneham Lane, City were almost ahead inside two minutes when Paul Hakim did well to work the ball inside to Lee Clarke whose shot across the rotund Wayne Shaw rolled just wide of the far post.
The Spitefires hit back to enjoy the better of the opening 45 minutes but found Paul Bastock in exceptional form. After the industrious and effective Steve Forbes headed over from a Ryan Ashford free kick, the evergreen Bastock showed tremendous awareness in changing direction to push away a ground shot from Ashford that deflected off Elphick.
Bastock’s finest moment came on 13 minutes when he sprang high to his right not only to reach Ashford’s well-struck 30-yard free kick but also to cling onto the ball. Ashford went close with two further efforts during the half and Dave Town scuffed wide a good opening.
City chances were less frequent although Clarke had a shot deflected wide after Hakim skilfully outwitted four defenders and Ram Marwa, after Hakim appeared to handle, had a shot blocked as Shaw came and missed a Tom Davis free kick.
Eastleigh, looking to complete the league double over their guests, could have been ahead within seconds of the restart as Town set up the free Richard Hodgson but a goal on his debut eluded him as Bastock spread himself well to block the effort.
Four minutes later, the 50th, City were ahead as Davis, continuing his run of good form, won the ball on the halfway line and played it to Ben Walshe on the left. After running deep into the Spitefires territory Walshe fed Hakim who cut inside and from 20 yards beat Shaw low inside his right hand post.
Hakim maybe should have added a quick second when he did well to bring down a long Ben Lewis free kick only to stretch and poke wide with just the ample frame of Shaw to beat. The Eastleigh goal had another narrow escape when Shaw played a risky goal kick to Ian Oliver who quickly returned it to his keeper. Shaw dithered long enough for Hakim to block the eventual clearance with Clarke elegantly chipping the loose ball onto the face of the crossbar, Matt Hann, following up, saw his under-hit shot parried and blocked on the goalline by the retreating keeper.
Although Eastleigh battled manfully against the wind they found clear openings hard to come by and City ensured victory with their 84th league goal of the season as Walshe curled in a left-footed corner that Shaw failed to connect with cleanly and presented the ball to Clarke whose off-target shot was sent into the back of the net with a looping header from Elphick.
Virtually before the celebrations had started referee Palmer was heading for the goalline and singled out Elphick from a group of City players to be cautioned for crossing the line and consequently dismissed the goalscorer having previously booked him for a foul on Andy Forbes.