Elliot Benyon celebrates his goal with the City faithful
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A third successive match without defeat was sufficient to lift St Albans City out of the Nationwide Conference relegation places on Saturday but come Judgement Day the Saints could well rue the loss of two extra points that seemed to be in the bag at Marston Road before Stafford Rangers substitute Dolapo Olaoye hammered in the second Stafford goal some 40 seconds beyond the four minutes of added time signalled by the 4th official.
That the match extended beyond the anticipated close was more than slightly down to the Saints as Colin Lippiatt sought to secure victory by throwing on an extra defender, Lee Flynn, in place of Lee Clarke, with the four minutes almost up. As Clarke trudged off at something less than military pace referee Russell Fletcher, annoyingly fussy throughout, added on a few extra seconds which proved just enough for Phil Robinson's side to muster an unexpected equaliser.
Anyone who witnessed the opening 20 minutes before heading off to do their chores must have found it nigh on impossible to believe that Stafford could have found themselves in such a desperate position after dominating the opening exchanges and seemingly on their way to a convincing victory. But City, struggling to stay on their feet early on on a difficult, sodden surface, gradually imposed themselves on the game and really should have sewn up the points before Rangers late strike.
Following the enthralling victory over Rushden & Diamonds it was of little surprise to see Colin Lippiatt name an unchanged XVI, including the starting XI, for the clubs first visit to Stafford, indeed it was only the second time the Saints have ventured anywhere into Staffordshire with the FA Trophy tie at Tamworth last January being the first.
Stafford Rangers are making a decent job of their return to the Conference, they gained one point less in the Conference North last season than City did in the South, with 26 points from their opening 19 games and next week visit Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2nd Round of the FA Cup.
The cup run certainly seems to have given the side confidence and as St Albans stumbled around on the squelchy surface with all the assurance of a newly born foal Stafford attacked with no lack of menace. A fine turn by the dangerous and debut making Matty Barlow caused City concern after just three minutes but good work by Gary Elphick, who, along with fellow central defender Dave Theobald was superb throughout, got the ball out for a corner.
Stafford's bright start continued with Kevin Street testing Paul Bastock from 22 yards while Theobald had trouble dealing with a bouncing ball before deciding, possibly unwisely, to shove a back pass in Bastock's direction that the Bostonian hoofed downfield but not before slipping in the muddy goalmouth. The City defence was stretched again when a Guy Madjo header from Danny Edwards cross was deflected wide by the impressive Theobald.
City took 13 minutes to come to terms with the surface and create their first real opening at a ground that is very much in the mould of old non-league grounds compared to the flashy homes of many sides - St Albans City excluded - currently in the Conference. Ged Murphy conceded a free kick with a foul on Ben Walshe and from Matt Hann's inswinging dead ball kick Clarke headed over. With their shackles broken the visitors now expressed themselves more freely with the Clarke and Elliot Benyon double-act continuing the good work shown during the Rushden match.
City had a let-off when Barlow's header from a Nathan Talbott free kick fell to Madjo only for the again excellent Damian Batt to block the shot close to goal. As the play opened up Rangers keeper Danny Alcock sliced a clearance to Clarke but as the ball spun on the slippery surface hopes of a deadly snap shot were lost. A fine surge down the right by Batt, for once not asked to play a man-marking role, won a free kick that Walshe whipped in crisply towards the near post but was headed away for a corner.
Both goals survived close calls as Rangers skipper Wayne Daniel headed the ball away as Clarke was set to pounce on a Walshe corner while Bastock somehow jumped between two players to punch away a well placed Edwards free kick. The opening goal came on 24 minutes and can be put down to either dire defending or top class persistence depending on the colour of your scarf. Walshe, close to the touchline, stretched his left leg to arrow a good ball behind Liam Murray and in front of keeper Alcock. As the duo dithered over who should take responsibility Benyon, whose non-stop chasing of seemingly lost causes is a breath of fresh air, charged in and when the Stafford pair collided the 19-year old gleefully collected the loose ball and ran his fifth goal in seven games into the vacant goal.
Two minutes later there was what appeared a far more serious collision at the opposite end as Elphick raced back and slid to put the ball out for a corner only to be rewarded with a blood curdling smash into Bastock. The City keeper tried to put his prone team mate into the recovery position and it was some time before physio Jason Laird got him sitting upright followed by a swift recovery.
Bastock proved he had survived the collision unscathed when saving from Street before City embarked on a period of domination. Walshe and Benyon worked the ball across to Hann who continued his run of good form with a rising drive from 25 yards that Alcock just managed to claw away as it headed for the top corner. Half chances also came the way of Clarke and Benyon before Batt tested Bastock's reactions with a bizarre volleyed back pass that the keeper pumped downfield without waiting for it to bounce.
Both sides had chances during two minutes of added time with Stafford coming closest only for the acrobatic Bastock to thwart Barlow. After the break it was City, with a gentle though chill wind in their faces, who began the second half on top. An early foray involving Benyon and Clarke sent Hann away; when his low cross was half cleared Ram Marwa fired the loose ball into a nearby industrial estate. Moments later Walshe, receiving a short ball from Tom Davis, freed Benyon with a wonderful ball down the City right but, under pressure, the teenager stumbled and shot wide.
The start of the opening half had been most notable for the problems that Edwards gave Chris Seeby but the City left back stuck to his task and began the second period with his old swagger as he charged down the flank and won a free kick wide of the penalty area. From Hann's deep cross Elphick, in crowded goalmouth, headed wide.
The game went through a rare lull only to be broken by a soft Stafford equaliser on 64 minutes. Robin Gibson, who had only been on the pitch for five minutes since replacing Basham, lofted a high and what appeared unthreatening cross in from the Rangers right but with the kind of ill-fortune that has followed City around the country this season Theobald won the challenge to get to the ball first only to see his header rebound off the head of Madjo and fall gently inside Bastock's right hand post.
With just two sides having conceded fewer home goals than Stafford the Saints faced a tough task in piercing the home defence for a second time but, in fact, required just four minutes to reclaim pole position with a clinical strike. Batt began the move down the City right and sent Hann clear to break into the box, when his first attempt was blocked the winger drove an excellent the ball to the back post that took out Alcock and was met on the half volley by Clarke for his 74th goal for the club. That strike took Clarke above Allan Cockram, Rob Smale and Herbie Smith to joint tenth in the Saints list of All Time goalscorers alongside Nick O'Donoghue.
For a while City were rampant and a third goal was very much on the cards as they made light of tricky conditions underfoot with the pace of Benyon troubling the Stafford backline. A long ball looked to have set up the on loan Bristol City striker for the deciding goal but as he steadied himself Daniel recovered lost ground to block the delayed shot.
Having survived their leanest period without any further mishap Stafford hit back with good work by Talbott working the ball into Madjo who went down twice in quick succession close to goal without winning a spot kick. Stafford's best chance of salvaging a point looked to have passed them by when Madjo, for once finding space between Elphick and Theobald, turned after bringing down Murray's pass only to shot straight at the faultless Bastock from twelve yards.
As the game moved through the final ten minutes Colin Lippiatt sought to shut up shop by strengthening the defence with the addition of Magnus Okuonghae in place of Walshe but chances were created as Madjo glanced a header wide and the same player caused some consternation when going to ground as Theobald lunged to clip a through ball back to Bastock but the muddied Stafford striker gained little support from his team mates and none at all from referee Fletcher.
Fourth official Mr Hobday signalled four minutes of added time - much of it due to his incompetence in trying to press the right buttons when Stafford made a double substitution on 75 minutes. At the third attempt he finally succeeded; it was like watching an audition for The Generation Game. City's first away win since 9 September looked a certainty and to run down the clock a bit more Clarke was withdrawn, something that was achieved at a snails pace but the move backfired as more time was added on during which a long throw-in from Ged Murphy was glanced on by Brian Quailey for Olaoye to fire home the equaliser from ten yards.
The feeling at the final whistle was one of overwhelming frustration and disappointment and it may be a goal that, come May, could be of far greater significance than it appears today.
It was the seventh successive Conference match in which City have conceded two or more goals but that is offset, to some degree, by the side having scored two or more goals themselves in five of those games. With an aggregate of 73 goals from their 21 matches St Albans City supporters have seen more goals than any other side in the Conference so far this season |