Colin Lippiatt congratulates Jim Smith at the end of the game
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The dawning of a new era moved a step closer for two clubs at Clarence Park on Saturday following Oxford United's comfortable, if uninspiring, victory over an already relegated St Albans City. For City the future will be with a new manager after Colin Lippiatt, moments after Oxford had extended the home sides winless run to a 14th match, announced he will be leaving the club at the end of the season, while United are now ensured of a play off place and can dream once more of reclaiming the Football League place they surrendered one year ago.
Jim Smith's U's were fully deserving of their victory and will be frustrated not to have had the game wrapped up by half time, their first half dominance was total but some fine City defending - combined with the occasional wild hit and hope slash - and excellent goalkeeping by the ageless Paul Bastock delayed the inevitable second Oxford goal until second half added time. Not that a second goal was really necessary as the impression was that City could be out there for several more weeks before being likely to threaten Billy Turley's goal.
City were forced into one change from the Bank Holiday Monday draw at Tamworth with Ram Marwa suspended while Ben Martin also stood down as Lippiatt brought back his favoured central defensive pairing of Gary Elphick and Djoumin Sangare after injury. Oxford also made two changes as Matt Day and Chris Zebroski replaced the exciting Eddie Anaclet and Martin Foster. Indeed it was Zebroski, less than 20 seconds after kick off, who provided the first problem for City. Tom Davis, playing his 100th league game for the Saints - and his final match of the season before his latest ban - laid the ball back to Bastock in the Hatfield Road goal, Bastock attempted to flick the ball up but made bit of a pigs ear of things and only just hacked the sphere away in time before Zebroski could cause further embarrassment. That little blip ensured that Bastock's fan club on the terrace behind him, all 1,168 of them yet strangely wearing Oxford's colours, offered him advice for the remainder of the half.
If one were generous, it could be argued that City offered the next threat on goal with an Elphick header from a Malik Buari free kick. In truth the ball barely flicked the defenders head on its way well wide of goal but it was all the attacking excitement City could muster until the 37th minute when Chris Seeby also sent a header gently wide from another Buari free kick. All other City moves during the half either petered out or were snuffed out upon entering the exclusion zone around the edge of the visitor's penalty area.
Following a foul by Sangare on the lively Yemi Odubade, Bastock displayed his agility when diving low to his left to smother Danny Rose's well struck curling free kick. The sight of Oxford trying to get Odubade behind the City defence became a regular occurrence but it was a battle Sangare generally won with some excellent headers
Rose, receiving a short free kick from Michael Corcoran, tried his luck from the best part of 40 yards. The ball went through to Bastock with little pace but just before the keeper picked the ball up it took a high kick off the surface at the edge of his six-yard box but, unlike the previous week against Altrincham, it did not balloon over his prone body and into the goal. Bastock was again called into action to flick away an Odubade header from a Day cross but on 26 minutes the ball went into the back of the City for a mere 85th time this season.
A long ball from the back was neatly flicked on by Zebroski and this time Odubade's speed did get him goalside of Sangare. As the two of them raced towards the City goal Bastock came out and successfully blocked the first shot only for a generous ricochet to enable Odubade to get round the keeper and stroke home his 11th goal of the season, and second against the Saints.
Just after the half hour City had the audacity, through Scott Cousins, to pump a free kick into the visitor's penalty area, Turley caught the ball and sent Odubade racing down the U's right flank with Ahmed Deen in close attention. The United striker fired powerfully and low across Bastock but again the City keeper was down to well to spectacularly punch the ball away. For a while Bastock must have felt he was in a coconut shy as Oxford lined up to grab the second goal. Once more the keeper thwarted Odubade, Zebroski did an air shot when the goal beckoned and then had a clever overhead effort palmed out by Bastock who, almost before he had time to gather breath, had to block Chris Hargreaves follow up effort.
Obviously City had been toying with Oxford for the opening 43 minutes and came close, well relatively, to drawing level when Lee Clarke battle hard for possession down the Saints left and laid the ball back to Deen whose cross was headed wide by Leon Archer when a firmer contact could have changed the direction of the match. But still City could not relax in the final seconds of the half as Elphick had to take drastic action in clipping the ball out for a corner as Zebroski gave chase to Turley's long punt.
For the second period City attacked the well populated away terrace but in truth it was just 45 minutes of topping up the suntan with little to excite the Saints third highest gate of the season, 1,713, sadly that figure included less than 600 home supporters. And even that figure was reduced by the boys in blue who moved in to remove from the stadium five idiots who thought that continually taunting the Oxford fans was a good idea. That said, an Oxford chant of ‘going down, going down', was rightly answered with a burst of ‘you're not famous anymore'. All good clean fun.
City made one change during the interval with Guy Lopez replacing Cousins and it is a source of disappointment to many City supporters that a regular starting place has not been found for Lopez. Certainly St Albans did gain greater control of the middle of the park with him out there after the interval. Five minutes after the restart Davis fired over the Oxford goal from 30 yards and while there was no lack of determination from either side the lack of inspiration is underlined by the fact that Oxford did not muster their first shot on the York Road goal until the 66th minute.
To their credit, Lippiatt's boys some played some decent football as Oxford either eased off the accelerator or wilted in the tropical sunshine, whatever the reason City more than held their own attacking the bottom goal but seldom was there the remotest possibility of the scores being brought back level. One such moment did arrive on 73 minutes when Buari and Deen worked the ball up to substitute Matt Hann who was just unable to latch onto the ball before it rolled wide of Turley's goal. On several occasions when the visitors did get forward they seemed reluctant to get the ball into the box, seemingly more content to retain possession and settle for what they had.
Ten minutes from time Oxford won the first corner of the half - City's first of the match had yet to arrive - Bastock clawed the ball down, Elphick helped it on its way but only as far as Luke Foster whose shot was charged down. In an effort to relieve the tedium, City's man on the public address system, Tony Watts, kindly announced the winner of The Grand National on 84 minutes, consequently over 1,700 people who were grinning and bearing 45 minutes of pretty much nothing could now console themselves by adding losses on the big race to their misery.
A shock occurred on 86 minutes when Davis swept a lovely pass wide to Hann who scampered towards the edge of the penalty area and struck a fine low shot that, unfortunately, went straight at Turley who saved in comfort. Moments later a Hann free kick from the City left was missed by both Elphick and Turley with Buari just unable to reach the ball beyond the back post.
Maybe feeling demob happy given the impending announcement of his departure from Clarence Park, Lippiatt sent on Ben Martin for the final few minutes, sticking the 6'7" central defender up front. In the final minute prior to added time, Turley punched clear a Deen cross that Dean Cracknell controlled before firing not too far over the visitors goal.
But it was Oxford United who had the final word, originally they seemed content to keep the ball by the corner flag at the Supporters Club shop corner of the ground only for Day to ruin that idea by darting along the goalline past a couple of tackles before crossing to the back post for Foster to beat Lopez to the ball and head home the second goal.
Oxford's win, barring some bizarre mathematical equation, secures their place in the play offs. As for St Albans City, we will finish bottom of the table, 14 consecutive winless matches have seen to that, while our place in the Conference National (Blue Square Premier) will be taken by Histon who secured the Conference South championship on Saturday. Histon, the side we beat in last seasons play off final, have confirmed they will be staying part time and we wish them well with next seasons journey. |
