Simon Martin wins an aerial challenge.
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Results elsewhere in the Nationwide Conference could hardly have gone less favourably for the Saints than they did on Saturday but if St Albans City are to survive for a second season amongst the elite of the non-league game then it will by their own efforts and at Rushden & Diamonds at the weekend City battled with tremendous spirit before becoming the Diamonds fifth consecutive victims. Certainly the Saints defence and goalkeeper Paul Bastock were every bit as impressive as the Nene Park stadium but it was a day when a City goal was even less likely than the Rushden stewards being successful in repeated attempts to keep the travelling City support in their excessively priced seats.
This was the first visit to Nene Park by the Saints for a first team fixture, the City's Reserves went there twice during the 1999-00 season playing once inside the main stadium whilst being banished too pitch no.3 for a return visit a few weeks later. As if the number of pitches Rushden & Diamonds have is not sufficient to convince people of the gulf between the facilities of two clubs - bearing in mind City have not even got a training pitch of their own - then perhaps the knowledge that pitch no.3 also has a scoreboard may help to bring home the point.
That the clubs are meeting on level terms this season is just one more reminder of the quite remarkable job Colin Lippiatt has done in lifting the Saints into the Conference National and had the City manager not given his scriptwriter the day off then he would have celebrated his 100th league match as manager of the Saints by collecting at least a point.
City's failure to do just that cannot be blamed on the defence which, as a unit and individually, were quite outstanding with the debut making left back Ahmed Deen looking, on this evidence, an excellent acquisition. Alongside the new boy, Gary Elphick, Djoumin Sangare and Patrick Ada were equally impressive and continue to grow into one of the finest backlines this club has enjoyed for many years, indeed given the level at which City are now competing it could be argued that the current defence rates alongside any to have previously worn the Blue & Gold (yellow in modern times).
Behind the defence stood Paul Bastock. Not one to hide when in the spotlight, Bazza revelled in having a large crowd behind him during the second half - this was Rushden's second highest home league gate of the season - and he not only joined in with the verbal banter but also treated the locals to an exhibition of the Ministry of Silly Walks and juggling with the ball with his feet and on the back of his neck. With such antics some goalkeepers could have come a cropper; Bastock simply rose to the occasion and capped an outstanding display with two quite magnificent saves as Rushden piled forward during the second half.
City were without the suspended Leon Archer from the previous weeks draw with Crawley Town and dropped Chris Seeby to the bench to make way for Deen who signed from Fisher Athletic on Friday afternoon. Simon Martin, with just two previous Conference starts behind him this season, the most recent being at Southport in early October, stepped in to replace Archer. Rushden, victorious in their two previous outings at Oxford United and Dagenham & Redbridge (two quite reasonable scalps!), also showed two changes with Jon Ashton and Marcus Kelly coming in for Michael Bostwick and Dino Maamria who were both to play a significant part in the outcome when called upon after half time.
On a deceptively chilly afternoon it would be fair to say that the football, particularly during the first half, did little to keep either set of spectators warm although the 214 City supporters present were in optimistic mood at the interval. Rushden, attacking the eerily vacant all-seated Air Wair stand, were quickly onto the attack although it was City, through skipper Lee Clarke following a pass from Martin, who won the first corner of the day inside two minutes. It was one of just three corners the Saints won all afternoon - still, that is a 50% increase on the previous week. Matt Hann swung the ball in right-footed from the City left and after it deflected off Chris Hope's head keeper Scott Tynan tipped it over for the Saints final corner of the half. This time Chris Watters landed the ball onto Clarke's head but his effort failed to trouble the home defence. That early burst of City pressure clearly lifted the Saints and for the remainder of the half there was a possibility of the visitors completing their first Conference double.
A good move involving Ada, Clarke and Ram Marwa ended with Watters low cross being just too far ahead of the incoming Martin. As the stewards made their first attempt to get the City supporters back in their seats the home side came close to scoring with Simeon Jackson looking to pounce as the ball bounced off Ada's knee only for Bastock to swiftly snuff out the danger. Tom Davis pulled a simple save out of Tynan with a tame effort from distance before Martin won a free kick close to the edge of the home penalty area. Watters struck the ball straight into the Rushden wall and that wasted effort was replicated twice more later in the game, each time by Hann. In total, City had four free kicks in excellent positions but each one, as they have been for a number of weeks, was completely wasted by an appalling delivery; pathetic in fact.
City's first real moment of concern came on 27 minutes when Marwa sold Hann short and allowed Wayne Hatswell to dive in with a ferocious tackle that helped the ball onto Jackson who moved inside before unleashing a fine shot from 30 yards that flew narrowly wide of Bastock's left hand upright. It was a rare threat on the visitors' goal with the back four looking composed as they won a succession of balls in the air and on the ground and with Deen showing himself to be the possessor of a good long through a new weapon had been added to the Saints armoury.
Tynan had to be alert to grasp a near post effort from Watters before Bastock and the outstanding Sangare got in a tangle with a bouncing ball on the edge of the box. In the mix up, Bastock came close to handling outside his penalty area before the ball was scrambled out for throw. Davis, with a clear piece of amateur dramatics, won a free kick on the edge of the home box that Hann again drilled into the wall while a slip by Sangare almost let in Chris Beardsley before Ada swooped to clear.
Diamonds boss Graham Westley had a pretty useful list of substitutes to choose from and he chose wisely during the interval as he sent on Michael Rankine and Maamria in favour of Kelly and Beardsley. Within seconds the speed of Rankine was causing City problems the kind of they had not endured during the opening 45 minutes. As the pressure began to grow so did Bastock's presence and his determination to put on a show although it was City who almost found a way through on 54 minutes when Davis slipped the ball through to Martin with his attempt to send Clarke clear only thwarted by Hope's fine intervention. Six minutes later Martin won St Albans final corner of the match. Hann and Watters worked a short pass routine that fell apart long before the ball got close to entering the penalty area; Plan B at a dead ball situation was proven to be even less successful than Plan A.
Two minutes later Bastock made his first significant contribution when saving Rankin's spectacular and powerful volley but the danger was far from over and the Saints custodian had to move swiftly to smother the ball after it struck his head and bounced goalwards with Maamria closing in. From that moment on Bastock and the vocal Diamonds support crammed into the De Banke stand kept each other entertained.
There were several occasions when City played the ball around with confidence and in comfort but one such move broke down, wide on the halfway line, when Maamria refused to let Davis settle. Quickly the ball was played up to Rankine and after surging into the box he cut the ball across to Glenn Wilson who appeared to have a simple opportunity to open the scoring only for his possibly misdirected shot to thud into Ada's midriff before being cleared.
As stoutly as City defended it seemed just a matter of time before Westley's revamped and increasingly sparkling Diamonds would find a way through to avenge their defeat at Clarence Park back in November. Elphick, who has won more headers in recent weeks than Australia have lost One Day Internationals - no mean feat - was booked for a trip on Rankine on 68 minutes and almost received a more severe punishment from Jamie Cook's free kick as Hope looked certain to score with a crisp close range header but the Rushden skipper was stunned as 36-year-old Bastock flung himself high to his right to palm the ball over for a corner.
A spell of sustained Rushden pressure came to an end with a tame 30-yard effort from Ashton that Bastock juggled with his feet before trying a few party pieces that are clearly best left to the likes of Ronaldo. On 73 minutes Rushden, through the offside Rankine, did get the ball into the City net but a flag wafting gently in the chill breeze quickly cut short the celebrations.
For City though the relief was short-lived as within two minutes the ball was in the back of the visitors' goal for real. Cook and Jackson won the ball on the halfway line and sent Rankine away to the left of the Diamonds attack. Bastock was defiant as he superbly parried the striker's low drive but the City keeper, despite diving full-length, could do nothing to stop Maamria from marking his home debut with the winning strike from 12 yards.
Ten minutes from time Lippiatt, sensing that his celebratory centenary party was turning into a wake, withdrew Watters (suffering from cramp) with Seeby gong to left back and Deen into the left side of midfield. Deen took a liking to his new role forcing Tynan into a save, not a difficult one admittedly, before Rushden came blazing back once more. Sangare blocked a drive from Maamria while Diamonds leading scorer Jackson looked to have broken clear only for the impeccable Ada to stroll across and dispossess him al la Bobby Moore. But Ada's halo did wobble when he slipped in the build up that saw Rankine's shot ricochet out to Bostwick whose thunderous shot was beaten out once more by Bastock.
In the dying moments - of which there were more than anticipated as an announced four minutes of added time was extended to five minutes and 24 seconds - City pushed Elphick, who was in some discomfort with severe cramp, forward. He saw the ball a couple of times but City's last hope went when a fine move through the middle of the park saw Clarke slip an excellent diagonal ball out towards the right flank that found Hann in plenty of space only for his poor low cross to be easily cleared by Mark Albrighton. Ada won the ball back but was outnumbered by Red shirts as he tried to scamper across the edge of the penalty area.
Rushden had one further opportunity to make their fifth successive league win more emphatic only for Jackson's low cross to be a tad too long for Rankine. City had just sufficient time to send on Faly Basse for his delayed debut; maybe next time he will even get an opportunity to touch the ball. |