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

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24.01.2009 at 15:00 Twerton Park

Attendance : 676

Bath City

1 - 0

St Albans City

Referee : Andrew Davies (Southampton

Blue Square South

Goalscorers

Own Goal 1 (Everitt)

None.

Opening squads

Steve Perrin
Gethin Jones
Jim Rollo
Matt Coupe
Chris Holland
Adam Connolly
Sekani Simpson
Lewis Hogg
Darren Edwards
Dave Gilroy
Richard Evans

Paul Bastock
Hassan Sulaiman
Scott Cousins
Ben Martin
Ryan Frater
Adam Everitt
James Quilter
Paul Hakim
Simon Martin
Jonathan Hunt
James Fisher

Substitutes

Stuart Douglas
Steve Jones
Alistair Gibb
Martin Slocombe

Hector Mackie
Sam Hurrell
Craig Mortimer
Daniel Charge
Chris Seeby

Substitutions

Stuart Douglas -> Darren Edwards (76)
Martin Slocombe -> Richard Evans (89)
Steve Jones -> Dave Gilroy (90)

Daniel Charge -> Simon Martin (68)
Craig Mortimer -> Hassan Sulaiman (68)
Sam Hurrell -> James Quilter (74)

Yellow cards

Gethin Jones (27)

Ben Martin (21)
Paul Hakim (24)
James Fisher (50)

Red cards

None

None.

Match report

An own goal just 23 seconds into St Albans City’s Blue Square South meeting with Bath City at Twerton Park on Saturday was enough to extend the Saints winless league run to an eighth match with Steve Castle’s side also failing to score for the fourth successive away league game.

In a desperately poor game City never looked remotely likely to pull back the own goal conceded by the blameless Adam Everitt and until such time as the Saints start to find the target on a regular basis then one goal will continue to be sufficient to keep the current dire run going.

Only bottom side Bognor Regis Town have scored less on their travels than the 11th placed Saints and, but for an injury time header by substitute Danny Charge, saved by veteran home keeper Steve Perrin, St Albans would have completed a second consecutive game without so much as a shot on target.

The Saints now look forward to Tuesday’s home encounter with Welling United placing great faith in Gary Cohen finding his scoring boots upon the completion of his three-match suspension.

The two sides went into this match with Bath one place off the top of the current form table – spanning the last six matches – and the Saints one place off the foot of it. Given such a stark difference in recent results perhaps it was not so surprising to see City in arrears inside 23 seconds, despite Castle’s side having taken the kick off.

Bath broke quickly with Dave Gilroy storming past Ben Martin down the Romans left and striking a powerful ball into the box that Paul Bastock thumped away. Sekani Simpson saw his follow up kicked off the goalline by Ryan Frater only for the ball to strike the prone Everitt and rebound into the goal.

It could be said that St Albans responded positively with James Fisher heading over from a Jonathan Hunt free kick on five minutes but given that that was City’s only real threat to the home goal until the dying embers of the afternoon it was as close as a side gets to throwing in the towel.

But there were flashes of hope, such as on seven minutes when Simon Martin flicked on a Bastock free kick. Paul Hakim scurried his way forward but when his square ball inside rolled into open space the chance was lost.

Ten minutes later both Simon and Ben Martin were both manhandled in the penalty area as they challenged for a long Everitt throw-in yet referee Andy Davies – whistle happy throughout the opening 45 minutes – bizarrely awarded a free kick against the City captain.

Mr Davies repeatedly pulled up Ben Martin for what appeared innocuous challenges early on. Martin’s frustration boiled over and he was duly booked for throwing the ball away. Fisher was also cautioned later in the game for voicing his frustration at the match official – the duo now miss the home game with AFC Wimbledon on February 7 having each received five yellow cards this season.

Hakim was also cautioned for kicking out at Chris Holland as the Bath defender ran the ball out for a goalkick. In fact Mr Davies had a busy spell of waving his card midway through the opening half and added the name of Gethin Jones to the list after the home defender shoved Scott Cousins following the full-backs challenge on Simpson.

Bastock, who made one appearance for Bath 15 years ago, pulled off an excellent save when Adam Connolly’s shot from 30 yards took a deflection and almost wrong footed the City custodian who readjusted swiftly.

Bath’s fourth highest crowd of the season screamed loudly for a penalty as Ben Martin and Gilroy tangled inside the penalty area but referee Davies saw nothing untoward – it was one of three times when the Bath striker went to ground somewhat easily.

But three minutes from the interval the home side did go close to extending their advantage through more satisfactory methods. Holland headed goalwards from a Jim Rollo free kick, Bastock did well to beat out that effort then excelled himself to turn Simpson’s follow up against the post and out for a corner.

Despite feeling as frustrated as the small band of City supporters that travelled west to see the Saints latest failings going forward, Castle resisted the temptation to make changes at the interval. City actually enjoyed several spells of good possession during the second half but still Perrin and his defenders had precious little to worry about.

Five minutes after the restart Bastock kept City in the hunt when stretching high by his near post to palm away for a corner a drive from a tight angle by Gilroy that clipped Martin on the way through.

For a while Bath pushed forward looking to cement victory with Darren Edwards heading over before the same player had a goal disallowed for offside, and Richard Evans saw his shot from 20 yards easily taken by Bastock.

Following an impressive showing in midweek, 18-year-old Craig Mortimer was given his league debut on 68 minutes, as Hassan Sulaiman was withdrawn.

City enjoyed a slice of good fortune on 70 minutes when Edwards gave up the chase for a long ball from right-back Gethin Jones. This allowed Bastock to collect in comfort when the ball in fact slowed up and would have been within Edwards’ reach.

Bastock continued to be the busier of the two keepers as he blocked an effort from a tight angle by Gilroy and held a drive directly at him by Connolly.

With more than a hint of desperation St Albans threw Ben Martin into the attack for the final eight minutes but with the Saints delivery from set pieces and the flanks poor the big man had scant opportunity to add to his hat-trick of the previous weekend.

Even so, during almost five minutes of added time the visitors did cause the Romans some anxious moments. Mortimer twice lofted the ball back into the penalty area as Bath struggled to clear their lines from a corner while City’s second corner of the half, taken by Hunt, was knocked away as far as Sam Hurrell whose cross was met by Charge but safely gathered by Perrin.

With just seconds remaining City had one final opportunity to score their first goal in three visits to Twerton Park – and their first on the road in 364 minutes - but their ineptness going forward was summed up perfectly by Hakim who, on his 100th league appearance, fired high over the home goal from 25 yards.