| Langford 3 St Albans City Reserves 1 | ||||
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 Saints lost this Spartan One encounter after being reduced to 10 men on 55 minutes.The Home side started the stronger of the teams forcing the ball forward at every opportunity . They deservedly took the lead on the 7th minute as Karagozlu failed to deal with a bouncing ball in the area and the resultant cross was converted to open the scoring. With Saints' midfield squandering possession it took the away side time to stabilise but from 20 minutes on they came more into the game. Taylor,Quattromini,Petrucci and Luck became more involved and Saints started to control proceedings. Brian Haule suffered a recurrence of his hamstring strain and was replaced by youngster Tremayne Charles on 30 minutes. HT 1-0. Saints had the better of the opening exchanges but chances were few and far between although Langford missed a penalty on 50 minutes. Dom Petrucci was sent off with a second yellow on 55 minutes for his first foul in the game which caused some bewilderment in the away team's ranks. Langford then scored a vital second goal and 10 man Saints looked a beaten side. Manager Franco Sidoli replaced Adam Fry with Billy Jones as the 10 men sought to make a fight of the game and how they fought! The remaining 30 minutes was an onslaught by young Saints on Langford. Taylor,Jones,Quattromini,Karagozlu and Charles all went close as the away side pinned back their hosts. Tremayne Charles reduced the defecit following good work by Taylor and Quattromini to make it 2-1 on 75 minutes. Saints kept pushing for an unlikely equaliser but got hit by a rare Home attack who grabbed a third goal to calm their nerves and seal the points. Manager Franco Sidoli " I am very proud of the 10 players that finished the game today. They gave it everything and were a credit to the Club. They withstood some difficult challenges without any referee protection and in my opinion were well worth a draw but it wasnt to be. However, we found out a bit more about a few of the boys today,especially the youngsters Taylor and Charles who coped very well with the whole situation." Next up is an away game at Harpenden next saturday . Kick Off 3pm. |
