Ryman League Premier Division

David Tavener reports from Ship Lane

A TRIO of top quality second-half goals carried St Albans City to a welcome Premier Division victory at struggling Purfleet on Saturday which lifted them into a top ten position and co

Ryman League Premier Division

David Tavener reports from Ship Lane

A TRIO of top quality second-half goals carried St Albans City to a welcome Premier Division victory at struggling Purfleet on Saturday which lifted them into a top ten position and condemned the poorly supported Essex club to a seat in the bottom three which, on this evidence, is wholly justified.

City showed four changes from the side defeated in midweek by Hendon with just one (leading goalscorer Gary Ansell) being due to injury. With Ansell absent, City opted to play Junior Samuels as a lone striker in a tactic which did not really come off but the addition of the powerful Danny Jones to the midfield was certainly a plus-point.

At the heart of the defence, Richard Goddard and Al-James Hannigan were competent against an attack clearly lacking a shred of confidence.

St Albans began brightly with Mark Rooney firing in a shot from 25 yards which went a yard over the bar while Fleet keeper Steve Mead had to move quickly from his goal to clear after a short back-pass from McFarlane almost let in Samuels.

But it was Purfleet, despite creating less in front of goal, who should have gained a first-half advantage when a quick throw from Micky Engwell set up Paul Coombs who wastefully hurried his shot and drove the ball high and wide.

The half ended with a flurry of activity around Mead's goal as the keeper saved a header from Jones and Gary Howard got in an excellent tackle to deflect the ball back to his keeper as the on-loan midfielder burst through again.

City had confident penalty appeals rejected as McFarlane seemed to haul down Samuels after the striker cleverly dummied the ball.

Even during the early exchanges after the interval there was no hint of what was to come, especially when Coombs twice moved into dangerous positions for the Fleet, his first effort was blocked by a superbly timed Peter Risley tackle while City were relieved to see his second effort deflect wide off Laurence Batty's legs.

The match took a decisive twist in City's favour in the 65th minute when, following a foul by McFarlane on Samuels, Chris Piper stepped up to curl a delightful 25-yard free-kick wide of the wall and just inside Mead's left-hand post.

That goal transformed both sides' outlook on the game and within two minutes, City had doubled their lead with a well-constructed effort as Lee Harvey and David Pratt opened up Purfleet's left flank with a delightful one-two that led to Harvey's cross being swept home from eight yards by an on-rushing Jones.

Despite St Albans being denied a third goal when referee O'Keefe missed Howard whipping the ball away from Samuels with his arm in the 75th minute, it was not long before they gained consolation.

Piper, in a run so reminiscent of his brother Lenny last season, collected the ball just inside the Purfleet half and ran at the heart of the home defence before unleashing a glorious shot low to Mead's left that was unstoppable.

More goals seemed in the offing for Kevin Mudd's side but, surprisingly, the final strike of the afternoon came at the other end of the pitch as John Keeling shot past Batty, from a seemingly impossible angle, for his first goal of the season.

St Albans City: Batty, Rooney, Risley, Goddard, Hanngian, Harvey (Moran 71), Jones (Evans 79), Piper, Samuels (Randall 79), Pratt, Knight.