Leon Archer rounds the Tamworth keeper to set up Lee Clarke for the opener
|
St Albans City's demotion to Conference South was confirmed at The Lamb on Easter Monday during a scrappy, mistaken ridden encounter against Tamworth that could also lead to the home side departing the Conference National at the end of the month. But whatever ones views on the football it was the performance of referee Shaun Proctor-Green that will linger long in the memory. Not content with showing NINE yellow cards to City players he also dismissed Tamworth's Ludovic Quistin for a shameful elbow into the face of Chris Seeby, and topped all that by removing Colin Lippiatt from the dug-out. Who said we wouldn't go down fighting?
But the astonishing card count, which included two yellows for Ram Marwa as he became the eighth City player to be dismissed this season (although one was rescinded), really does not tell the tale of this match. The frequency with which Mr Proctor-Green (try fitting that into a small notebook) brandished the cards makes it sound like a bloodbath, it wasn't. What it was, was a referee losing all sense of perspective and being heavily influenced by a partisan home crowd. The players found the Gainsborough official amenable during the opening 45 minutes but once he had had words with Colin Lippiatt at half time his attitude changed and City were to pay an expensive price for the alteration in his character.
Marwa was despatched for two fouls, one of which was an alleged push on Jon Stevenson for the penalty that saved The Lambs from going down to a fourth successive defeat, while Quistin's red card was jabbing his elbow into Seeby's face after a pretty crude challenge by the City defender, for which he too was booked. In fact, the only three City players not to be cautioned were Paul Bastock, Scott Cousins and Ahmed Deen. Taking those three players individually, Bastock, after suffering from a sever bout of dropsy on Saturday, was back to his faultless best. The performance of Cousins was a reminder of what could have happened had we been able to call upon his quality week in week out, his touch and passing were a cut above almost anyone else on the pitch.
But the player who probably did most to win the Man of the Match award was Deen. Having played down the left in most of his previous games for the Saints, this was only his second appearance in the middle of the defence, with a different partner both times, and he was outstanding. Relatively small, he won a lot of headers and while he wasn't afraid to clear his lines by the swiftest route available he also played some excellent passes from the back.
Making a welcome return to the team alongside Deen was Ben Martin who was making his first starting appearance in the Conference South after a spell of rehabilitation with Wealdstone. If the towering central defender was uncertain about his troublesome knee then he certainly did not show it with a fully committed and commanding performance. Indeed, so well did the City backline perform a dodgy penalty was just about the only way one could see Tamworth scoring their first goal in four games. Martin, in for the injured Gary Elphick, was one of two changes to the City side from the Altrincham game, Dean Cracknell replacing Guy Lopez in midfield being the other.
On a surface that looked worn and uneven Tamworth, showing four changes from the side that lost to Exeter City on Saturday, started positively but even from the early stages looked timid in attack. A promising move on 13 minutes involving Seeby, Cracknell and Clarke ended with Leon Archer having a shot blocked but two minutes later City did take the lead and raise the possibility of securing our first Conference double. A spell of City pressure looked to be coming to an end but instead of playing the ball forward John McGrath, from 25 yards out, played a back pass through the middle of his defence that was easily intercepted by Archer whose touch knocked it wide of keeper Jose Veiga for Clarke to slide home left footed from 14 yards his first goal in 913 minutes.
The early stages were most notable for the regularity with which the ball went out of play on the covered terrace side of the pitch, a strong wind was not evident so there appeared no real reason for this. Fortunately Tamworth do not possess a player such as Lewis Chalmers of Altrincham to take advantage of these situations while from one long throw by Malik Buari Lambs keeper Veigo just snatched the ball ahead of Martin.
Bastock was dominant close to his goal and produced a good punch and catch from a free kick and corner respectively just prior to Clarke deflecting wide for a corner a McGrath free kick. St Albans lead was almost doubled on 32 minutes following a fine move. Tom Davis, the first player into the referee's notebook for which he will serve a three-match ban, won the ball and found Buari whose excellent pass sent Clarke away down the City left. Clarke went across the edge of the box before passing to Archer who was forced wide. After turning inside, Archer put a low ball inside to Cracknell who looked well placed to score only for his possibly under-hit shot from ten yards to be scooped off the goalline by Graeme Law.
City had a let off on 35 minutes when a Rikki Bains free kick was headed wide of Bastock's right hand upright by Jake Edwards with Taiwo Atieno just failing to turn it home. A good Tamworth move on 37 minutes saw McGrath play the ball wide to Darryl Taylor whose cross was smartly volleyed goalwards by Edwards but was comfortably taken by Bastock. Three minutes from the interval Cracknell almost put Archer clear but his clever through ball was just too strong.
The half ended with Buari collecting City's second booking and moments later when the half time whistle sounded Lippiatt had words with Mr Proctor-Green. Several Tamworth officials have already offered to support the City manager's claim that he did not use foul or abusive language but nonetheless he was ordered from the dug-out. Given that the bench in the dug-out is in a sunken position that may be no bad thing as the view they offer must be just about the poorest in the whole ground. But Lippiatt's frustration was understandable as prior to Davis's booking he'd seen his midfielder kicked in the groin, deliberately he alleges, while Martin left the pitch with a cut above his right eye sustained in an off the ball incident involving Edwards.
Tamworth were quickly into their stride after the restart winning a corner in the opening seconds and from McGrath's dead ball cross there was an almighty scramble in the visitors goalmouth before the ball was cleared. Little was seen of City thereafter as an attacking force and the occasional decent passing movements of the first half were seldom repeated, but what was maintained was a good work rate, especially for a side that was on the brink of relegation.
Four minutes after the restart Bastock clung onto a Michael Briscoe header while a Saints counter-attack on 58 minutes saw Buari charge clear down the right but the former Fulham player shot closer to the nearby ski-centre than the Tamworth goal. The third yellow card for the Saints was shown to Archer for not retreating ten yards at a free kick, which would be fine had the same ruthlessness also be shown to the home team.
A crucial turning point came on 73 minutes when Lambs boss Gary Mills replaced Emmet Friars with Stevenson, within four minutes the substitute had won the Lambs a vital penalty. Edwards cut in from the right flank and drove the ball across the face of the City goal, Stevenson stretched to reach the ball but, in the eyes of the man with the whistle, was pushed by Marwa and a penalty was awarded. Marwa was duly booked and Law sent Bastock the wrong way from the spot for Tamworth's first successful penalty at home this season.
Two minutes later Mr Proctor-Green provided himself with more paperwork when showing Clark his 10th yellow card of the season when to the casual observer it did appear a case of Simon Heslop shoving the City captain rather than the other way round.
Off the pitch the referees' assessor was busy scribbling a raft of notes and his pad almost caught fire during the final seven minutes as three more players were cautioned and two others despatched. Marwa, with a second foul on Stevenson, was sent to keep his manager company on 89 minutes and three minutes later Seeby, with a poor tackle on Quistin, collected his third booking of the season but as the two players went to ground the Tamworth player replied with an elbow jabbed into the face of his assailant and was promptly dismissed. Seeby's tackle on Quistin was only slightly worse than one by Adie Smith on Cracknell yet the Tamworth player escaped without punishment.
Four minutes into added time Lopez went into double figures for the season when booked for a trip that led to McGrath sending a poor free kick way over the City goal while a free kick at the opposite end of the pitch resulted in bookings for Martin and Atieno for a bit of pushing on the edge of the box.
Although Tamworth had the majority of the play, particularly during the second half, City can feel hard done by in not collecting all three points but they were even more harshly done by on the disciplinary front and will now be called upon by the FA to explain how a majority of people in the Roman city managed to get their names into Mr Proctor-Green's little black book. However, it seems inconceivable that the club will not receive a measure of support from the match assessor, even a qualified referee in the press box was moved to say that he always stands up for referees but on this occasion said, quite simply, ‘he's lost it'. |
