No goals were to be had at Clarence Park on Tuesday night but St Albans City’s best attendance for 23 months was regally entertained as the Saints came so close to ending Blue Square South league leaders AFC Wimbledon’s 16-match unbeaten run in a 0-0 draw.
Under the scrutiny of England C manager Paul Fairclough, the Dons began and finished the game strongly, but in between it was the mid-table Saints who threatened most to pick a way through one of the two highly efficient defences.
City manager Steve Castle resisted the temptation to recall skipper Ben Martin to the centre of the defence after the 6ft 7in defender's stiff neck had cleared over the weekend, an injury that ruled him out of Saturday’s game.
Castle kept faith in the central partnership of Scott Cousins and James Quilter and the duo repaid the manager's loyalty with fine performances. They were ably supported by full-backs Hassan Sulaiman and Alex Bailey.
Bailey has been outstanding since his return to the club three games ago but there were eye-catching City performances all over the pitch. Goalkeeper Lee Butcher was signed earlier in the day on a one-month loan from Tottenham Hotspur after it was revealed that Paul Bastock’s run of 42 successive league appearances was over after he suffered a fractured eye socket during Saturday’s draw with Team Bath.
Butcher’s safe hands in the air, good decision making when dashing from his line to clear, and clean kicking was a solid foundation that inspired confidence throughout the side.
James Fisher continued his remarkable transformation since moving from defence to midfield where he lined up alongside the always impressive Solomon Shields, who has proved to be a wonderful loan signing from Leyton Orient. The teenager justifiably collected the match sponsors man-of-the-match award.
In attack, Paul Hakim, back from suspension in place of Simon Martin, was a 90-minute headache for the visitors, although he and the Dons Jon Main, the two leading scorers in the division, were both unable to increase their season’s tally.
Wimbledon’s early flourish looked ominous for City but a wild shot high over the Hatfield Road goal by the St Albans born Sam Hatton was the nearest the visitors came to upsetting Butcher’s debut.
City responded with an equally wayward effort from Jonathan Hunt, but the Saints midfielder set up the first clear chance of the evening when he blocked a clearance with the ball bouncing kindly into the path of Fisher. After steadying himself Fisher sent a thunderous drive into the chest of keeper James Pullen, and as the ball was put out for a corner, a winded Pullen writhed around in the goalmouth.
Four minutes later and the Dons defence was breached again as Hakim fed Sulaiman, whose drive thudded into Pullen’s left-hand upright.
The pace was furious and City maintained the tempo with Mackie surging past four players on a breathtaking run down the left before having the ball whipped off his toes.
It was one of several promising runs by Mackie that unsettled Wimbledon, but ultimately failed to pierce a resolute defence.
Wimbledon were next to threaten with a Hatton free-kick being headed wide, but that was as close as Terry Brown’s side came to scoring as they followed in Team Bath’s footsteps in failing to muster a single on-target shot on the home goal.
The early thrills continued with Cousins chipping a good ball out to Hakim after a Bailey throw–in had been partially cleared. Hakim then exchanged passes with Bailey and cut in from the left to just inside the penalty area where his speculative shot dipped the wrong side of the bar.
Just prior to the half-hour City almost broke through the middle of the Dons defence on two occasions, and each time Gary Cohen looked to have found a way through, but was foiled by Pullen and Ben Judge respectively.
After that absorbing opening 30 minutes, threats on goal became increasingly rare closer to the interval.
The second period was pretty much more of the same with the likelihood of a goal ever present yet somehow one never materialised.
Two minutes after the restart Hakim arrowed a glorious low ball towards the near post from the right touchline to which Judge slid in with perfect timing to tackle Cohen.
Wimbledon suggested that they were about to take a grip on proceedings when the muscular Danny Kedwell chested the ball down and from 25 yards unleashed a half-volley that clipped the roof of the net as Butcher, playing against a club he had a spell with last season, looked on anxiously.
On the hour Castle sought to strengthen the defence by sending on Martin, but that one change led to wholesale changes. Cousins moved to left-back, Bailey switched to the opposite flank and Sulaiman, who has filled in so well at right-back recently, reverted to his right-sided midfield position.
Despite the changes City continued to look the side most likely to find the target and the frustration of Dons boss Brown became increasingly evident from the dug-out.
But Wimbledon did not go into the game having conceded just 30 goals in 33 games without good reason and when Fisher and Hakim looked to have worked an opening for Cohen the City striker was denied by Judge once more.
Shields, who had an increasing influence on the game, went on a searing run through the middle of the park before being tripped from behind by Jake Leberi. The Dons skipper became one of six players to end up in referee John Rowbury’s notebook.
Cousins blasted the free-kick low into the wall with the excellent Quilter firing the rebound high into the night sky.
One of the best attacking moves of the night came on 71 minutes when Hakim passed down the City left to Sulaiman, whose low cross went across the penalty area before being retrieved by Cohen. After regaining possession Cohen laid the ball off to Mackie, but the 20-year-old snatched at his shot and the ball sailed into the terraces behind Pullen’s goal.
Neither side appeared happy to settle for a point and the possibility of a late, deciding goal grew stronger.
Hakim fired a free-kick straight at Pullen and, less than a minute later, after twisting smartly on the edge of the box, Hakim again fired into Pullen’s midriff.
And as the game edged into its final five minutes, plus an additional four minutes of added-time, Wimbledon began to exert heavy pressure around the Saints penalty area.
For a while, the ball pinged around like a pinball. City, even with the towering Martin not putting a foot wrong, struggled to clear their lines, while the Dons failed to get into position for a clear shot.
But just seconds from the final whistle all of City’s commendable exertions almost came to nothing.
Substitute Chris Hussey curled in a corner from the Dons right that glanced off of Kedwell’s head and wide of Butcher’s right-hand post.
Before the goalkick could be taken the final whistle sounded and City’s unbeaten run had been stretched to a fourth match. More impressively, City had kept a clean sheet for the fourth successive match - their best run for three years. |
