Two of the most pleasing aspects regarding St Albans City's promotion into the Nationwide Conference have been the excellent rise in the technical ability of the football witnessed thus far, and the rise in the standard of the referees which, overall, has been to a high standard. Sadly, the first of those two points was seldom attained on Saturday as Gravesend & Northfleet extended their undefeated run to an impressive eight matches, while the second was simply shot to pieces by Steven Cook who gave a display of refereeing that Colin Lippiatt described as the worst he has seen in 28 years of management - by going back just 28 years the City manager surely gives Mr Cook's performance far greater credit than it is due.
The Surrey official awarded three penalties of which not one should have been given and seemed to blow for every indiscretion whether real or imagined. A man's game, a physical contact sport? Not a hope of that at Clarence Park as the whistle sounded with the frequency of somebody strolling through the park on a sunny Sunday afternoon full of the joys of spring.
When refereeing decisions do not affect the outcome of a match they, at this level anyway, are usually swept under the carpet, but unfortunately on this occasion the result of the game was all but settled once Mr Cook had given Gravesend two of the most appalling penalty decisions one is ever likely to see. That is until he handed City a sympathy spot kick for a ridiculously alleged handball that, bizarrely, contributed to a thrilling final 15 minutes of an otherwise forgettable encounter.
At two-down City's cause looked a lost one, but after Tom Davis fired home from the third penalty of the day a dramatic climax looked to have been achieved when Paul Hakim headed home his fourth goal of the season with less than a minute remaining. But City's determination to make life as difficult for themselves as possible resurfaced right at the end of three added minutes when two errors in quick succession allowed Mark De Bolla to claim his sixth goal of the season with a superb strike to Paul Bastock's left and in via the upright.
City made two changes from the side defeated in midweek at Exeter City with Dean Cracknell and Duane Jackman making way for Rob Norris and debutant Kurt Husnu. Norris possesses fabulous close skills and with a few more full games under his belt should be of real benefit to the side. Husnu made a slightly less positive impression and was withdrawn at half time.
The match, played on a truly gorgeous later summers afternoon with Clarence Park basking in warm sunshine, kicked off at a lively and promising tempo but was scrappy long before the interval arrived. Gravesend should have been ahead inside the opening minute when Luke Moore's miscued shot fell kindly to Charlie MacDonald only for the Fleets leading marksman to shoot tamely through to Bastock. Before the minute was over Hakim came within a whisker of latching onto a Davis through ball but was just beaten by visiting keeper Lance Cronin.
MacDonald got goalside of Magnus Okuonghae on five minutes but Dave Theobald timed his run well to head back to Bastock. A good City move on 12 minutes saw Davis and Hakim work the ball out to Norris who went forward with confidence but disappointingly put the ball straight into Cronin's arms. Shortly after, Gravesend skipper Rob Quinn stabbed wide from a corner before the game disintegrated into a dour struggle with little creativity. City though, maybe should have forged ahead on the half hour when good approach work ended with Davis putting the ball up to the edge of the penalty area where Lee Clarke and Hakim and bundled their way clear with Hakim's well-placed low shot being quite brilliantly turned around the post by Cronin.
The interval came as a small mercy with the play becoming increasingly untidy. Lippiatt was forced to withdraw Theobald during the break due to a dead-leg which, although unfortunate for the central defender, at least paved the way for the return of Gary Elphick after missing two games through injury. Husnu was withdrawn in favour of Adam Wilde.
Just three minutes after the restart Wilde was in the thick of the action as a delightful ball by Norris put him clear close to the left side of the penalty area but with no strikers in the box Wilde elected to hold the ball up rather than take the bold option of going into the danger zone and the chance was lost. Three minutes later and Mr Cook decided it was time to get the score moving. A deep cross from the Fleet left went beyond the back post towards MacDonald and Flynn. MacDonald, most acrobatically, gave an exaggerated leap away from the City defender to suggest he had just been shoved in the back by a runaway train and the referee duly pointed to the spot. MacDonald's spot kick, along the ground to the motionless Bastock's left, was a work of precision and skill.
Mr Cook was so impressed with that spot kick that on 61 minutes he offered MacDonald the opportunity to repeat it when awarding the most farcical of penalties. Okuonghae attempted to head a difficult bouncing ball back to his keeper only for Moore to nip in and, as Bastock went to ground, threw himself to the ground too. When the referee blew Slatter appeared certain to be booked for diving, instead MacDonald, after Bastock was ludicrously cautioned, produced a carbon copy of his first spot kick to score his ninth goal in just 11 games this season.
Having made few inroads into the Fleet defence to this point City at last started making some headway with Gravesend receiving an enormous amount of good fortune on 67 minutes. Bastock gathered a corner and from his long kick Hakim broke clear, his low shot beat Cronin but was kicked away by Mark Ricketts only for the ball to rebound goalwards again off Hakim before being cleared right on the York Road goalline.
Liam Daish's side hit back with a marvellous run down the left by MacDonald who cut inside only to see Bastock save not only his first effort but also the follow up.
City's attacking prowess increased with the arrival of Jackman whose pace troubled the visitors but it was another shocking refereeing decision that got the Saints back into contention. Wilde swung over a corner from the St Albans right that Elphick just managed to get a touch on before George Purcell and Ross Smith attempted to run the ball to safety only for the latter to be penalised for the most innocent and innocuous of handball offences. Davis shrugged aside the ongoing row to fire the ball crisply to Cronin's left for his second goal of the season.
Now Gravesend were rattled and Hakim went close with a header over from a Wilde free kick. And with just a minute of normal time remaining City drew level as a Flynn throw from the Saints left glanced off a Fleet defender and was smartly headed home at the near post by Hakim.
Gravesend, who showed a far greater willingness to get forward than several visiting sides of late, pushed hard to regain the points that seemed to be slipping from their grasp but after Bastock made saves from Slatter and Onome Sodje it was City who searched for a late winner although Norris's low shot was easily taken by Cronin.
With Mr Cook about to blow for full time the Fleet made one final foray towards the City goal and an opening came their way when Okuonghae wrongly chose to head infield instead of towards the touchline. Chris Seeby, having his quietest day for some time after a run of fine performances, lost out in a battle for possession on the deck allowing Quinn and MacDonald to quickly work the ball onto De Bolla who condemned the Saints to a painful defeat with the penultimate kick of the match. |