Harry Crawford scores the winner.
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A brace of second half goals by Harry Crawford, including one in the second minute of added time, carried St Albans City through to a scarcely justified place in the last four of the Herts Senior Cup as Hadley squandered countless chances in going down to a 2-1 defeat at Clarence Park on Tuesday.
Crawford, sent off in the previous round, made his mark on the competition in a more positive fashion this time out as City recovered from a truly wretched first half performance to eventually see off Micky Hazard’s Spartan South Midlands League side.
Hadley took the lead with just one minute played and should really have put the result beyond any doubt long before half time, as an experimental City side was cut open at will by the visitors who were let down by poor finishing.
City began the game with Youth Development and Reserve team players Gerardo Smaldone (right-back) and Charlie Ward (central defender) in the starting XI, and gave debuts to three more youngsters – Callum Lee, Oran Swales and Cameron Ferguson – just after the hour.
Hadley, well placed in the Premier Division of the Spartan Midlands League but beaten 3-0 in each of their two previous outings, got off to a perfect start.
Breaking up a City move deep in the Saints half Hadley moved the ball forward with composure.
Six passes later former Saint Nick Chrysanthou curled a good ball into the penalty area that allowed leading scorer Ivan Machado – a former protégée of Steve Castle’s at Oaklands – to stab the opening goal past the wrong-footed Joe Welch.
For a while Hadley seemed to be lining up to have a pop at Welch’s goal and, through Tanasheh Abrahams, did get the ball into the City net for a second time only for an offside flag to curtail the celebrations.
Sam Lyon, the second one-time City player in the Hadley side, went close with a couple of headers, as the visitors sought to strengthen their position.
St Albans finally got a shot on target on 25 minutes when Crawford and Kevin Krans worked the ball in from the left to Billy Gibson. From Gibson’s through ball Jack Green burst through the middle only to have his shot smartly charged down by ‘keeper Charlie Mann.
John Kyriacou, the most experienced player in the City side but playing in an unaccustomed left-back position, was caught out by the speed of Mustafa Mutlak whose angled low shot was deflected wide off the legs of Welch.
From the result corner, swung in by Chrysanthou, Louis Bowen was just unable to turn the ball in at the back post.
Chrysanthou’s next corner was partially cleared to Laste Dombaxe whose shot from distance was clipped across the goal and narrowly wide by Bowen. City were clinging on.
Chrysanthou remained in the thick of the action and, on 39 minutes, turned away from Krans to unleash a shot from 20 yards that flew across Welch and struck the crossbar. Machado retrieved the ball and cut a pass back from the goalline to Chrysanthou who, this time, fired over the home goal.
The list of near misses continued to grow as Mutlak fired over from 18 yards.
Five minutes from the break the woodwork came to the rescue of Hadley when Mann pushed a Krans free kick onto the base of his right upright and the half closed with Gibson being denied by Mann.
City’s abysmal first half showing could only be improved upon after the break but Hadley had other thoughts.
Within two minutes of the restart the unmarked Machado latched onto Martin Flannery’s long ball but could not squeeze the ball past the outrushing Welch.
Hadley’s failure to add to their early goal came back to haunt them on 50 minutes when City scored a scrappy equaliser.
Kyriacou, six yards from the City goalline, knocked a long ball to the halfway line where it was worked out to the right to Jack Green via Jonathan Edwards and Krans.
Green, lavishly praised by manager Harry Wheeler after the game, exchanged passes with Smaldone before scuffing a pass across the penalty area to Edwards.
The on-loan Peterborough United striker also fluffed his shot but the ball bounced kindly to Crawford who scored with ease with his left foot from seven yards.
Boosted by that early goal City played with greater confidence for the remainder of the game, but Hadley still managed to have ten shots on the City goal during the half, seven of which were on target.
The Hadley goal had a remarkable escape when the ball was returned to Gibson following a corner and his low cross was crashed into the woodwork by Bowen, as the defender tried to clear his lines.
If their luck was in on that occasion then it was not moments later when substitute Zaine Gangadeen sent Mustafa clear but again Welch rushed out to deflect the shot out for a corner.
City broke swiftly from the ensuing corner with substitute Swales sending Krans away on a run covering more than half the length of the pitch. When he eventually came to shoot Mann, racing from his goal, did well to block and then smother the ball.
Back came Hadley once more with Chrysanthou spreading the ball out to the left to Abrahams whose cross was skied by City teenager Lee. Dombaxe was first to the falling ball and, after shrugging off Gibson, had a powerful shot turned against the post by the diving Welch.
The City keeper was sprawling to good effect again moments later to tip a ground shot around the post when Jermeel Jno-Baptiste looked set to score.
The unwanted prospect of extra time grew stronger as the rain began to fall and Edwards dragged a shot wide.
The possibility of a winner during normal time faded when Mann saved well from Swales but two minutes into added time and City, at last, ended Hadley’s stubborn resistance.
Gibson switched the play from the Saints left to the right, where Swales cushioned a header into the path of Edwards.
From Edwards’ low shot the ball deflected off the outstretched leg of Bowen and straight to the free Crawford who drove home his fourth goal in 18 games to book City’s place in the last four.
St Albans are due to be at home to Weston-super-Mare in a National League South fixture this coming Saturday, 16th January, but this game is dependent on Weston losing their FA Trophy tie with Wealdstone tonight (Wednesday). |
