Drew Roberts scores the first penalty
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Two successful penalties by Drew Roberts gunned down the Spitfires of Eastleigh on Saturday as St Albans City moved into the top ten of Blue Square South with a hard earned 2-1 victory at Clarence Park over Ian Baird’s highly fancied Hampshire outfit.
In a keenly contested 90 minutes between two evenly matched sides City grabbed the points courtesy of Robert’s spot kick accuracy that clinched a second home win of the week as the Saints chalked up their best home start to a season for seven years.
But the three points may have come at some cost with several players picking up injuries, James Quilter and Gary Cohen being the most serious. Quilter damaged an achilles just prior to half time while Cohen received a nasty blow to his right knee from the studs of Spitfires keeper Jason Matthews.
Eastleigh were unchanged from the side that won 5-0 at Weymouth in midweek, while City brought in 19-year-old Danny Green for the unavailable Paul Hakim.
Green, the scorer of a spectacular goal within a minute of his arrival on the pitch as a substitute on Tuesday, gave a display rich in promise that saw him share the spotlight with the outstanding Paul Bastock.
Within 34 seconds of the kick off Green demonstrated his ability with a thrilling run down the City left that served notice to Eastleigh that Cohen’s whippet-like swiftness through the middle now has an equal out on the flank.
Despite Green’s forages down the left and Solomon Shields promptings in the centre of the park, Eastleigh created the better first half openings.
On four minutes Danny Smith won possession from Luke Thurlbourne ten yards inside the visitors half and surged unchallenged through the middle of the pitch before drilling a fine effort low to Bastock’s right that the City keeper stretched well to flick away for a corner.
Two minutes later it was Matthews turn to show his agility when tipping over the crossbar a fine shot on the turn from 20-yards by Cohen.
After the early excitement chances came less frequently and Eastleigh, just like Worcester in midweek, had trouble getting their five-man midfield to impose itself on the City middle trio of Shields, James Fisher and Thurlbourne.
Midway through the half Bastock’s workload increased as he dealt competently with a volley from Peter Adeniyi that was fired straight at him, and then with a well struck low drive by Shaun McAuley that he smothered, at the second attempt, by the foot of the post. But the veteran keeper really earned his corn six minutes from the interval.
McAuley, coming in from the Eastleigh right, attempted to drill the ball into the goalmouth but his effort was blocked by Quilter who was injured in the process. McAuley calmly slipped the rebound into the path of Danny Smith whose perfectly placed ground shot from ten yards appeared goalbound until Bastock’s outstretched left hand swooped to scoop the ball to safety.
After receiving treatment Quilter returned but was taken off as the seconds ticked away towards half time, his departure allowed assistant manager Mark Peters to make his City debut.
The full value of Bastock’s remarkable save became apparent during added time when Roberts gave chase to Fisher’s ball over the visitors defence. Just as he cut into the penalty area Roberts was carelessly bundled over by Steve Clark to hand St Albans their first penalty of the season.
Roberts, who scored a penalty for Bedford against the Saints during the sensational play-off encounter that secured City’s place in Conference South back in 2004, confidently grabbed the ball but skipped anxiously as his right-footed spot kick entered the York Road goal only after striking the inside of Matthews’ right hand upright.
Thirty seconds later and referee Adrian Quelch ended the first half action.
The second 45 minutes certainly did not lack endeavour but despite both sides trying to mix a passing and long ball game the play struggled to flow. Both sides were guilty of wasting good positions at free kicks with a poor delivery; the same fate befell virtually all of the 14 corners won during the afternoon.
Green gave another glimpse of his burgeoning talent when scampering through the middle but was less impressive as his scuffed shot trickled out for a goal kick.
A spell of Eastleigh pressure around the hour saw City survive a couple of let offs. Alex Bailey was perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty when the ball, from a Brett Poate free kick, bounced up and struck him on the arm. Seconds later Poate sent a free kick from the edge of the penalty area into the general direction of York Road.
The game seemed to have taken a significant shift in Eastleigh’s favour following two incidents 20 minutes into the half.
The Spitfires enjoyed a huge slice of good fortune on 65 minutes when Fisher, set up by Cohen, drove a wonderful right-footed effort from 25 yards that left Matthews without a prayer only to thud back into play off the centre of the keepers left hand post.
A minute later and Eastleigh, to the joy of their handful of supporters behind Bastock’s goal, were level. McAuley, out on the right, slipped a short pass into Andy Forbes and continued his run to take the return pass and hammer a cracking drive inside Bastock’s near post.
Having capitulated after conceding a goal the previous weekend at Dorchester, the Saints showed greater steel this time and took the game to Baird’s promotion hopefuls.
Clark was booked for a foul on Roberts down the City right and from Green’s in-swinging free kick Clark almost added to his personal misery with a header that flashed just wide of his own goal.
Eastleigh retaliated with Taggart feeding Forbes whose drive was blocked on the edge of the box by the lunging Peters, Smith’s follow up sailed high over the home goal.
Both sides went for victory in the final ten minutes with City gaining the upper hand on 81 minutes as Roberts became the first player in 22 years to convert two penalties for St Albans in a home league match.
The elusive Cohen won the decisive spot kick as he pushed the ball into the penalty area only to be sent tumbling by Aaron Martin who became the sixth player to enter the referee’s notebook. Roberts, for the second time in the match, sent Matthews the wrong way from 12 yards and duly celebrated his third goal of the week.
The play switched from end to the other in the closing minutes but only one clear opening was created when Poate swung a deadly ball in from the Spitfires left that Taggart, standing no more than eight yards out, met with a clean header that Bastock majestically clawed over the top to secure the points. |