After beating playoff-chasing Eastbourne with ten men at Meadowbank last week, the prospect of visiting 21 st place St Albans City was, on paper, a promising one.

The Wanderers attack was without the usual figurehead of Jason Prior, and from kick-off we looked slightly lost without our target man. James McShane had the ball in the net ten minutes in on his return to the starting eleven, but Charlie Carter – whose cross came after an excellent dribble – was found to be offside in the build-
up.

The hosts had their first effort of the game after Jack Young was dispossessed in the Wanderers half by Zane Banton, but our boys were equal to both the shot and the corner that followed. Constant turnovers in the midfield left the next ten minutes mostly chance-less, with both teams looking to play a direct, high-tempo style of football. Jimmy Muitt and Alfie Rutherford had some success linking up on the right wing, but didn’t see any results for their work.

The first big chance of the game came in bizarre fashion when a drop kick from Saints’ goalkeeper Michael Johnson was blocked by Rutherford. Our number ten chased the loose ball with him and Johnson the only two players in the St Albans half. He waited for support from McShane, whose effort was cleared off the line by the frantically back pedalling Davide Longe-King.

As the half reached its close, Wanderers were just starting to show signs of their free-flowing selves, and it didn’t take much pressure to find a breakthrough.

A quickfire one-two between Muitt and Brennan Camp allowed our number seven space on the right to find = Carter in the middle. Carter finished emphatically and wheeled away with a passionate celebration in front of the Wanderers fans. 0-1 45+3’

Half Time: St Albans City 0-1 Dorking Wanderers

The break probably came at the wrong time for our Wanderers, as the dominance we’d established by the end of the first half was replaced by end-to-end football at the start of the second.

Carter was able to test Johnson with a long-range effort, but the hosts had chances of their own. A 50/50 penalty shout went in our favour, and a teasing Saints cross didn’t quite find a target – meaning the game reached the hour mark at 0-1.

Harrison Foulkes had only been called into action once in the first seventy minutes, but that didn’t stop him reacting well to a top corner-bound effort from Shaun Jeffers to deny the hosts an equaliser.

With our lead, the impetus was on the Saints to chase the game. We were struggling to create much in the final third, and the usual cool-headed game management that has become Wanderers’ trademark didn’t seem to be present. There was an air of hesitation and plenty of panicked clearances as the game reached the closing
stages.

The hosts were eager to capitalise on this. Jack James was able to run almost 50 yards unchallenged which injected belief into the home players and fans.

Moments later, a cross from the right wing was met with force by Longe-King, who having made a goal-line clearance in the first half, clawed his team back onto level terms late in the second. 85’ 1-1

The stand behind Foulkes’ goal looked on the verge of collapse amidst the celebrations. Eight minutes of injury time left our boys scrambling – but Foulkes appeared the only level-head on the pitch as he made an excellent one-on-one save to deny Jeffers a winner.

Saints corners kept on coming, but we rode out the storm, and despite some probing possession late on, the points were shared at Clarence Park.

We sit third in the league just two points shy of the top, and with a visit to mid-table Bath next weekend, a result could be vital in our pursuit of promotion.

Full Time: St Albans City 1-1 Dorking Wanderers

Match report by Charlie Partridge