St Albans City F.C. Statistics Saintsnet - The Official website of St Albans City Football Club

css drop down menu by Css3Menu.com

Change:  Move to:
16.09.2000 at 15:00 Clarence Park Attendance : 982
St Albans City
0 - 1
Aldershot Town
Referee : Ray Ward Ryman Premier League match

Goalscorers
None. Coll (3)
Opening squads
Laurence Batty
Mark Rooney
Al-James Hannigan
Corey Campbell
Richard Goddard
Andy Adebowale
Danny Jones
Joe Lyons
Richard Evans
Gary Ansell
Junior Samuels
Andy Pape
Lee Protheroe
Jason Chewins
Matt Crossley
Owen Coll
Mark Blake
Lee Holsgrove
Mark Pye
Gary Abbott
Wayne Andrews
Richard Gell
Substitutes
Ryan Moran
David Pratt
Martin Randall
Ben Abbey
Ollie Adedji
Colin Fielder
Substitutions
Ryan Moran -> Richard Evans (61)
David Pratt -> Mark Rooney (76)
Martin Randall -> Joe Lyons (82)
None
Yellow cards
Al-James Hannigan (99)
Junior Samuels (99)
None
Red cards
None. None
Match report
St Albans City's search for their first home Ryman League victory over title chasing Aldershot Town continues following Saturday's reversal at Clarence Park but the Saints will reflect on their fourth Premier Division defeat of the season with some disappointment knowing that they had more than sufficient possession to have denied the Shots their fifth consecutive league victory.
The Shots laid siege to the Saints goal during the opening minutes with a string of five successive corners, the last of which brought about the decisive goal, but thereafter St Albans more than held their own without seriously looking to have the fire power required to see the ball in the back of Andy Pape's goal for the first time in more than 500 minutes.
The goal which condemned the Saints to their fourth defeat in eight Premier Division matches - a figure which was not reached until mid January last season - came inside three minutes when Lee Protheroe's corner from the Aldershot left was flicked on at the near post by Mark Pye and turned home by defender Owen Coll. City's prospects looked none too bright at this stage as the Shots looked set to take complete control but as the half wore on the Saints gamely fought their way back into contention. The first threat on the visitors goal saw Danny Jones screw a poor effort wide while a surging run down the left and into the penalty area by Gary Ansell drew strong penalty appeals as he went down under Matt Crossley's clumsy challenge.
Midway through the half Junior Samuels battled for possession, the ball ran onto Ansell whose shot was blocked and quickly latched onto by Jones whose well struck shot flew low across the face of the goal and wide of the back post. Ansell had two more good chances before the break but failed to cause Pape much concern but the best chance fell to Jones who somehow blazed the ball way over the top after Pape, not for the only time, dropped a cross in front of his goal.
Aldershot ended the half with an attacking flurry which saw City keeper Laurence Batty beat out a Wayne Andrews cross as the ball just cleared the head of the industrious Richard Gell while Lee Holsgrove failed to make a clean contact following a Jason Chewins cross.
One of the oddities of the 90 minutes was the ineffectiveness of the Shots highly vaunted attack of former Saint Andrews, who endured a dismal afternoon, and legendary goalscorer Gary Abbott who was comfortably shackled by the City defence although he was only denied his third goal in as many appearances at the Park for Aldershot by Batty's fine save on 50 minutes.
From then on George Borg's side looked a pale imitation of a side with title aspirations as City seized the upper hand but other than for a smart overhead effort from Samuels and angled drives from Ansell and David Pratt the former England semi-professional international goalkeeper was seldom troubled.
City's cause, though, should have been aided by referee Ray Ward who repeatedly turned a blind eye each time Pape grabbed hold of and shoved Samuels out of the way as the City striker lined up in preparation for a succession of Jones corners.
The Saints disappointment on the pitch, however, was nothing compared to the damage done to clubs good name off it by a small number of mindless idiots who spent the afternoon goading visiting supporters before running for cover once the Aldershot fans decided it was time for positive action. The incident led to the police being called to Clarence Park for the second time this season.

Report by Dave Tavener