By George Taylor

The Wanderers returned to Meadowbank just 48 hours after a trip to Torquay, in which they fell to a first competitive defeat of the campaign.

Marc White opted to make two changes from last weekend’s outing at Plainmoor, swapping Dan Pybus for Jimmy Muitt and Matt Briggs for Luke Moore, the latter of the two changes being made at half time on Saturday.

The opening stages of the half saw both sides creating opportunities on the counter, but none of any danger for the two goalkeepers. Tony Craig’s looping header proved to be the best chance of the opening twenty minutes, albeit rising over the roof of Michael Johnson’s goal.

St Albans, who came into today’s encounter yet to pick up a point on the road, were forced to sit back and soak up the mounting pressure for most of the opening minutes, eventually firing against the run of play through Castiglione.

The midfielder found himself in acres in space having been picked out on the left-hand side, before skipping past Barry Fuller and firing low past a helpless Harrison Foulkes.

Dorking, eager to respond before the break, continued to press their opponents through a series of arial deliveries, all of which did little to trouble Johnson.

Fuller’s delivery from the right hand-side met the head of captain Charlie Carter, however his effort proved too high to reach the target.

HT 0-1

Having made two changes in the first half, introducing Muitt and Camp for Bowerman and Francomb, Marc White reshuffled his starting line up once more by bringing off Pybus for new man Murphy.

It took the substitute just five minutes to make his mark on the match, earning the Wanderers an equaliser with a well taken finish. The forward picked up the ball ahead of the Saints defence, eventually darting into the box and squeezing the ball past Johnson from a tight angle.

Just under ten minutes later, Murphy grabbed himself a second in Dorking colours and completed the turn-around for Marc White’s men. The goal-scorer stretched towards an arriving set piece and bundled it past the diving Saints keeper, providing Dorking a well-deserved lead.

Murphy later came inches close to completing a perfect cameo with a hat- trick, as an effort from a loose ball brushed wide of Johnson’s post.

Dorking maintained their press for a third goal, but were provided a scare as they found themselves reduced to ten men for a poor challenge. Bobby Joe Taylor’s high footed tackle caught the face of Kieran Gautier, resulting in an early bath for Bobby having received his marching orders.

The Saints, looking to make use of their man advantage, continued to load the pressure on Foulkes’ goal, but to no avail. The visitors made headway through Gio Rasulo in the dying moments, an effort which resulted in the ball drifting away from goal.

Dorking’s resolute defending in the closing stages proved to be enough as the hosts held on for all three points, allowing the Wanderers to avenge their opponents for their most recent meeting two years ago.

The victory sees Dorking move to 6^th in the National League South table, two points behind current leaders Slough Town. Next up for the Wanderers is another 48-hour turn- around, in which we face both Eastbourne and Aveley away from home in the space of two days this Saturday and next Monday.

Dorking Wanderers: Foulkes, Pybus (Murphy ’46), Craig, McManus, Briggs (BJT ’51), Prior (Gallagher ’73), Carter ©, Taylor, Fuller, Bowerman (Muitt ’30), Francomb (Camp ’37)

Bookings: Bowerman, McManus, Camp

Reds: Bobby Joe Taylor

Unused Substitutes: None

St Albans City: Johnson, James, Bowry, Charles, Payne (Banton ’69), Jeffers, Castiglione, Allen (Ralfe ‘45+3), Deadfield ©, Rasulo, Gautier (Meakes ’72)

Bookings: Rasulo, Ralfe

Reds: None

Unused Substitutes: Gough, Bone