Goalmouth excitement was in short supply at Clarence Park on Saturday as a hastily adjusted St Albans City XI were held by Team Bath to their first home goalless draw in Blue Square South for over a year.
Saints manager Steve Castle selected his team on Friday night in the knowledge that leading scorer Paul Hakim would be missing due to suspension. But Castle's plans were almost thrown into almost disarray as skipper Ben Martin cried off on Saturday morning with a stiff neck and Hassan Sulaiman was trapped in north London due to problems with his car.
Losing two defenders at such short notice would have been a devastating blow but fortunately Sulaiman arrived with just 20 minutes to spare while Scott Cousins did an excellent job when covering for Martin in the heart of the City back line.
A measure of how well Cousins and fellow defenders Alex Bailey, James Quilter and Sulaiman did can be gauged from the fact that promotion seeking Team Bath failed to manage an on-target shot all afternoon, and only had four other attempts on the home goal.
City were hardly prolific in front of goal themselves with just two first half efforts forcing visiting keeper Jake Meredith into making saves. But that City did have ten other off target shots gives some indication that if any side deserved to collect maximum points then it was St Albans.
However, it was a match dominated by the defences and overall it was 90 minutes that threatened to burst into life but ultimately petered out somewhat tamely.
Looking to chalk up a third successive victory to bolster hopes of an unlikely late surge towards the play-off positions, City made an encouraging start with Jonathan Hunt winning the first corner inside three minutes. Hunt swung the dead ball towards the far post where Gary Cohen looped a header well over the target, and the dye for the afternoon had been cast.
While Cousins collected the sponsors Man of the Match award, another player filling in out of position to good effect, Alex Bailey, sent Cohen scurrying down the left before cutting inside and clipping a dangerous ball across the face of the goal that bounced out for a goal kick.
City's bright start continued when Hector Mackie, one of several players to do his long-term prospects no harm, chipped the ball into the box where Cohen challenged. The ball fell kindly to Hunt whose well-struck snap shot from 18 yards was smartly tipped over by Meredith.
The flurry of activity around the Students goal gradually subsided with the closest City coming to breaking the deadlock before the interval seeing Sulaiman, the recalled Simon Martin, and Hunt combine to find Cohen.
The City striker gave chase after the ball eluded him but was blocked by the sprawling Meredith as he attempted to twist and fire towards the Hatfield Road goal.
Team Bath seemed to be playing a careful, cagey game and were expected to be more adventurous after the interval. Sadly, the west country club still appeared content with a point even when going for a three-pronged attack with substitute Matt Cooper joining front men Sean Benison and Josh Llewellyn.
That said, City keeper Paul Bastock had to move swiftly in the opening minute of the half to smother the ball at the feet of Bath midfielder Mike Perrott.
Eight minutes into the half Mackie, still searching for his first goal for the club after 22 appearances, picked up a loose ball and attempted an audacious long range effort that was not far away from the apex of crossbar and post on the right hand side of Meredith's goal.
A minute later Martin went tumbling inside the penalty area but referee Neil Hair, who did blow for a number of 'soft' free kicks, particularly during the first half, saw nothing untoward on this occasion.
As the Saints new-look defence continued to snuff out the timid Students attack City resolutely sought to find a way through the visitor's backline. Hunt was the inspiration behind many of the Saints better moves but City too found life difficult in the final third of the pitch.
A rare Team Bath foray into the City half on 70 minutes led to a prolonged delay in the action. Bastock rose to challenge Students captain Gary Warren for a back post header and received an elbow into his eye for his troubles.
Just to compound the problem, the ageless City keeper smacked his head against the upright on his way down and had a bloody-nose to go with a black eye and fast developing swelling under his left eye.
Not only were City without a substitute goalkeeper on the bench but also two of the four substitutes listed, Ryan Frater and Chris Seeby, were not fit to take to the pitch.
However Castle did use one of his remaining fit substitutes, Inih Effiong, as he continued to look for a late winner. Effiong, who turned 18 last week, replaced Mackie who was troubled with a back injury sustained during the first half.
The teenager scored twice in midweek in the Football Conference Youth League and came close to notching his first for the senior side on 89 minutes.
Bailey, a naturally right-footed player who has slotted in comfortably at left-back since his return from Aldershot Town at the end of last month, sent over a cross from which Warren, diving full length, conceded a corner but came close to putting through his own goal.
Hunt clipped the in-swinging corner from in front of the main stand into the York Road goalmouth where both Effiong and Martin just failed to apply the killer touch.
The draw sees City drift to 14 points away from the play-off positions and surely nothing less than victory on Tuesday night at Clarence Park over league leaders AFC Wimbledon is required if St Albans, in Castle's 100th league game as manager of the Saints, are to retain even the remotest interest in the promotion pack. |
