St Albans City were victims of their own charitable nature on Monday night as Worcester City took advantage of the Saints goal shy attack to maintain a winning start to the Blue Square season with a flattering victory at St George’s Lane.
St Albans, particularly during the opening 45 minutes, played plenty of exhilarating football only for it all to go unrewarded with finishing of the lowest order. Manager Steve Castle remains optimistic that the Saints will find their scoring boots but how the side is crying out for a Steve Clark figure to do justice to the enterprising football seen all over the rest of the pitch.
Despite getting the ball into the home penalty area 20 times during the first half City only tested home keeper Danny McDonnell three times, of which just one warranted a serious save. Matters did not improve for St Albans after the break with five attempts on goal all going wide of the target.
The opening exchanges saw the Saints pushing the ball around most stylishly and positively as Worcester became penned back in their own half. St Albans won a succession of free kicks in dangerous positions but could not penetrate the overworked home defence.
From one Jonathan Hunt free kick the ball flicked wide off Paul Hakim while a second saw Ben Martin just fail to get a firm enough contact to head goalwards. And on 21 minutes, totally against the run of play, Richard Dryden’s side opened the scoring with a spectacular goal.
Graham Ward crossed from close to the byline on the Worcester right from which Marco Adaggio, with his back to goal, attempted an overhead scissor kick that Paul Bastock pushed onto the underside of the crossbar but could not stop from crossing the line after a second bounce.
The writing was very much on the wall for the Saints and two minutes later Bastock was in action again to deny Adaggio. Unease off the pitch about City’s inability to score was not matched on the lush turf though with Sean Ridgway testing McDonnell with a good shot after a swift turn. But on 25 minutes Ridgway was guilty of a dreadful miss when putting a tame effort too close to the keepers right after Simon Martin’s near post effort from Hassan Sulaiman’s cross had been blocked.
Although on the back foot the West Country side looked dangerous whenever they moved forward and after the interval that threat grew. Just nine minutes after the restart the game was put out of the Saints reach when City carelessly conceded possession down their right. Within seconds Adaggio flashed a powerful left footed cross to the back post where the incoming and unmarked Matt Dinsmore thumped a magnificent header beyond the helpless Bastock.
Worcester, urged forward by a now expectant crowd, sought to ad to their tally with Mark Owen going close from distance and then forcing Bastock into a wonderful save. The City stopper also did well to cling onto a firm drive from the lively Troy Wood.
The Saints too remained a threat but it faded with every passing miss. Paul Hakim was off target with a couple of efforts from distance and produced an astonishing miss from four yards when stroking the ball wide after Sulaiman’s near post cross had eluded both Tom Youngs and home keeper McDonnell. |