Good fortune was in short supply for St Albans City at Twerton Park on Saturday as the elements conspired against Ritchie Hanlon's struggling side with the contentious early dismissal of defender Gary Elphick and a dire penalty decision virtually condemning the Saints to their sixth Blue Square South defeat in ten games.
Elphick, his afternoon already not going well after suffering a puncture on the way to the west country, was sent off after just five minutes by Weston-super-Mare official Kevin Johnson. Elphick was clearly the final defender but his tangle with Dave Gilroy appeared no more than a collision between two players chasing a through ball.
Whilst the Saints seldom seriously worried Bath City keeper Paul Evans it would also be fair to state the overall performance was a vast improvement on the woeful showing against Thurrock, it could hardly be worse.
City keeper Nick Eyre had already been tested by a Mark McKeever free kick when a Darren Edwards flick to Chris Holland�s lengthy header sent Elphick and Gilroy running towards the edge of the visitors penalty area. The duo tangled, clumsily it appeared, both went down, and out came the red card. Scott Rogers resulting free kick flashed narrowly wide while City reorganised with the recalled Chris Seeby switching inside to cover for Elphick and Hassan Sulaiman dropped into the right back berth.
Lee Clarke, desperate for a goal having scored just once in 2,087 minutes, beat Evans with a well placed header following a Mark Beard cross only to be pulled back for offside while Bath, freshly promoted from the Southern League, used the aerial power of Holland to good effect as the loss of Elphick�s strength in the air left City weakened.
Eyre pulled off a marvellous tip over high to his right after Holland cleanly met a McKeever corner but St Albans resistance ended on 23 minutes when Gilroy, sensing Hasim Deen coming to make a challenge only to hold back, fell theatrically but convincingly enough for Johnson to point to the spot. The former Bristol Rovers striker duly sent Eyre the wrong way to open the scoring.
Just after the half hour a deflected Scott Cousins free kick saw Evans fumble the ball over the bar but other than for a couple of tame efforts from Danny Morgan late in the second half that Jones saved low down, that was the sum total of City�s threat on goal. Hanlon�s side produced plenty of decent passing football but had no end product.
The Romans increased their lead on 51 minutes when a spell of pressure led to Seeby miscuing Gilroy�s cross, Eyre did well to block McKeever�s shot but a kind ricochet was smartly tucked away by Edwards. Five minutes later and another controversial goal concluded Bath�s biggest win of the season. Mark Beard, under pressure, played a 25-yard back pass to Eyre, believing the referee had given the all-clear for him to handle the ball the keeper did just that only to be immediately penalised. After a prolonged delay Edwards touched a short pass to Adie Harris who drove home through a cluster of players from eight yards.
St Albans enjoyed a good share of the play during the final 30 minutes but Bath seemed content with their rewards while the Saints reflected on another heavy defeat and a disciplinary record showing 28 bookings and two dismissals in just ten games this season.
Report courtesy of The St Albans & Harpenden Review |
