St Albans City's inconsistent start to their Ryman League campaign took a turn for the worse on Tuesday night as Hendon gained a comfortable victory at Clarence Park which goes someway towards wiping away the memory of the Saints two three-goal victories over the Dons last season. Hendon were good value for their first away win of the season, which also ended a run of four winless matches, as they completely dominated the second half but Frank Murphy's side was aided by two blunders from City goalkeeper Laurence Batty whose indifferent early season form continues to fall below his high standards.
Hendon, with three one-time City players and one trialist in their side, were first to settle and went ahead on six minutes as former Bulgarian international Bontchev Guentchev saw his deflected shot wrong foot Batty and come to rest in the back of the York Road goal. A long range effort from Andy Adebowale called Dons keeper Richard Wilmott into action for the first time on 16 minutes but seconds later City had to clear a Dale Binns header from their own goalline following an Iain Duncan corner. The Saints restored parity in the 22nd minute with a stunning goal. Spencer Knight, wickedly under-used by the Saints but also well marshalled by the Dons, saw his corner from the left wing returned to him and this time his right footed cross wide of the back post on the edge of the penalty area was neatly headed down by Richard Goddard to Gary Ansell who despatched a glorious drive across Wilmott for his fourth Premier Division goal of the season.
Although Hendon shaded the remainder of the half City were not without good chances. A well struck free-kick from Knight was smartly gathered under the bar by Wilmott whilst an excellent exchange of passes between Ansell and Chris Piper ended with the latter having his attempted lob caught by the former Stevenage keeper. City had a let off five minutes from the interval when Batty failed to hold Duncan's near post effort but the ball was safely scrambled out for a corner. Having enjoyed good fortune on that occasion City rued their ill-fortune just prior to the break as a rare moment of City pressure ended with neither Ansell nor Junior Samuels being able to force the ball home from close range.
A powerful low diagonal effort from Lee Harvey had Wilmott scrambling frantically across his goal soon after the restart but City's demise began in earnest in the 49th minute when Jon Daly, one of City's favourite players of the past decade, squared the ball to Phil Gridelet who in turn found Clarke. The defender tried his luck from a good 25 yards and celebrated wildly as Batty stood rooted to his near post as the ball clipped his outstretched left hand and went inside the far corner of the goal.
Four minutes later Batty denied Clarke from a free-kick but the City keeper was less impressive in the 57th minute as Haule's shot from the edge of the penalty area squirmed under Batty's dive for his first goal of the season. In a manner not too dissimilar to the recent defeat by Canvey Island, City, sadly, offered little hope of getting back into the game but for all their possession Hendon seldom threatened to increase the victory margin although Daly went close with a crisp effort from 18 yards. Late in the game City gave a debut to on-loan Enfield midfielder Danny Jones who added some life to a particularly ineffective midfield with his powerful runs and determination in the tackle.
Report by Dave Tavener |
