St Albans City were victorious in an exciting game against Hampton & Richmond.

Goals from Shaun Jeffers and Zane Banton were enough to earn three points and take the Saints up to sixth in the National League South.

In the reverse fixture, the Saints were comfortable victors, winning 6-0, so it came as a surprise when Hampton & Richmond opened the scoring four minutes in.

It was a well taken goal by Dan Rowe on the half-turn which trickled in off the inside off the post.

St Albans equalised minutes later after a brilliant one-two between Devante Stanley and Ryan Blackman gave the marauding wing back space to pick Jeffers out on the edge of the six yard box.

Tjhe hot-shot striker couldn’t miss, taking his goal tally up to 20 for the season.

He would have made it 21 five minutes later had it not have been for the linesman’s flag.

A shot from distance from Kyran Wiltshire was parried into the path of Jeffers but the linesman’s flag was quickly raised.

St Albans completed the turnaround and took the lead through Zane Banton 21 minutes in. Another brilliantly worked goal ended with Shaun Jeffers pulling the ball back to Banton.

The winger then opened his body up and whipped the ball into the near post, fooling Alan Julian in the Hampton net into diving the other way.

Jeffers had another goal disallowed minutes before half-time after Tafari Moore got in behind down the left and found Jeffers but the striker did not time his run.

The Saints almost had a similarly terrible start to the second half as they did the first.

There was uproar from the Hampton & Richmond bench after Ryan Blackman appeared to clip the heals of Alfy Whitingham in the Saints box.

Having been booked in the first half, Blackman would have seen red had the decision been given against him.

Fortunately for him, the referee saw the incident as a dive.

Hampton & Richmond did threaten in the second half as the Saints struggled to extend their lead; a looping header coming off the crossbar 70 minutes in being the best of their chances.

Five minutes later, Chay Cooper was inches away from putting Saints two goals ahead on his Saints debut.

The youngster, on loan from Colchester United, hit the post from the edge of the area with the keeper beaten.

The Saints kept trying to find that third goal and came so close in the 90th minute when the two youngsters McConnell and Cooper broke away after defending a Hampton & Richmond corner.

The pair combined brilliantly with perfectly weighted passes up to the Hampton & Richmond box, ending with Cooper finding substitute Munashe Sundire who had just sprinted from his own box to join the attack, but Sundire’s shot couldn’t find the net.

It would have been a brilliant counter-attacking goal. 

The game was not over yet thought. A speculative long ball was pumped forward by Hampton & Richmond looking to find Tommy Davis up from the back.

The defender controlled the ball, turned but could not find the bottom corner, much to the relief of keeper Dylan Berry and every other Saints fan attending.

 

St Albans City: Berry, Mukena, Clark, Di Trolio, Stanley, Blackman (Sundire 58), Wiltshire, Moore, Banton (Mcconnell 65), Weiss (Cooper 65), Jeffers.

Subs (not used): Adebiyi, Neal.

Goals: Jeffers 6, Banton 21

Booked: Blackman 1

 

Hampton & Richmond: Julian, Barzey (Rowhurst 70), Whitingham, Wood, Gray, Rowe, Kurran-Browne (Whiteaker 82), Deerfield, Wishart, Dunne, Davis

Subs (not used): Johnson, Donaldson, Ilic.

Goal: Rowe 4

Booked: Rowe 46