Report: Wealdstone 1 – 3 St Albans City
Wealdstone
1 - 3
St Albans CityWealdstone were comprehensively outplayed by a fast moving and effective St Albans side and in the process the home side lost their proud unbeaten home record under Manager Bobby Wilkinson in an emphatic and hugely disappointing defeat in front of a bumper crowd of 911 on Saturday.
Saints came out of the traps looking the most cohesive and were soon into their stride. It came as no real surprise when the away side took the lead on 15 minutes when Rhys Murrell-Williamson cut inside with acres of space to rifle past an exposed Jon North. The wide man was a thorn in the side of the home outfit all afternoon.
Stones new signing David Pratt looked lively enough but the linkage between midfield and attack lacked sufficient fluency to cause Saint too many problems but Stones did start to gain more possession that resulted in several corners. In fact Pratt’s excellent run created a great chance for Sam Cox who blazed over on 23 minutes
But two minutes later the home side drew level with an amazing effort from Abo Eisa. His persistence on the goal line still looked a lost cause but the speedy winger somehow managed to hook the ball over the line from an almost impossible angle.
A frantic finish to the half brought no further reward for either side .
HT 1-1.
Sadly for Stones the second period quickly became something of a nightmare; with only a minute gone Murrell-Williamson had the freedom of The Vale to again shoot past North to regain the lead
That goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home side, something the home fans have become very unaccustomed to as St Albans quickly overran the midfield. Stones tried long balls to their front men but poor passing and, solid defending from Saints delivered little or no progress. Zane Banton killed off any hopes of a Wealdstone revival with a good strike with 20 minutes remaining but again poor defending allowed the opportunity.
Stones only effort on goal of note was on 90 minutes when Dean Snedker saved well from Sub Stephane Ngamvoulou’s deflected strike.
A bad day at the office for sure and Stones will need to improve 100% to deal with a very tough looking Christmas double header fixtures with Hampton & Richmond Borough, starting away on Boxing Day and then at The Vale on New Year’s Day.
North ,Oshodi , Brown (Fitchett ), Wilson , Day , Cox (Ngamvoulou ), Sellers , Okimo , Pratt , Green , Eisa . Subs not used: Olomowewe, Goodger, Wellard
Steve Foster Pictures HERE