The weather was warm and the breeze was gentle but for St Albans City it was a bank holiday washout after defeat at home to Bath City.

A penalty from Scott Wilson and an own goal from Jack James gave the west country side a 2-0 lead at the break and despite an improvement in chances for the hosts in the second period, that's how it remained.

It follows a 3-2 loss away to Taunton Town on Saturday and leaves Saints with just six points from their opening six games and sitting just one point and four places above the relegation zone.

Saints made two changes to the side that had lost in stoppage time in Somerset.

In came Michael Clark and Andronicos Georgiou with Sam Brown and Nathan Carlyle missing out.

One of the criticisms levelled at the current crop of Saints by some of their fans is their inability or their inclination to pass forward.

They certainly had a lot of the ball in the first 30 minutes of this one but despite getting into some advanced positions, there was a lack of quality on their final ball, as well as limited movement ahead of them.

One moment saw Georgiou twist one way, then the other, then back again, and again before firing a shot off that was deflected behind.

He had James sitting outside him on the right flank and that was the option his manager implored him to take, bellowing "pass" from the technical area.

In the end their only chance of note came inside four minutes.

A free-kick was awarded out on the left side of the box and when it was fired in, it somehow slid its way beyond Ollie Wright and the defence.

However, as it ran to the goal-line, Danny Greenslade was there to clear from under his own crossbar.

Bath, who had been defending what came near them with relative ease, didn't have much to shout about going forward but they did cut Saints open after a tackle won by Tom Smith midway inside his own half.

The ball was instantly played forward for Wilson to run onto, getting ahead of the covering defence led by Dan Bowry.

The Bath man turned inside though and had a clear sight of goal but put it straight at Michael Johnson.

It was therefore a bit out of the blue that they went in front.

Smith again was involved, poking the ball out to the right and when the cross came in, it hit Ben Wyatt's arm, the full-back having turned his back slightly as he jumped to block the delivery.

Wilson sent Johnson the wrong way from the penalty spot and the goal gave Bath a bit of a lift.

Their second, seven minutes later, came from a similar position.

This time the cross was teasing enough to bamboozle the defence, hitting James and bouncing beyond the helpless Johnson.

Something had to change but the switch at half-time seemed forced rather than tactical, Bowry replaced by Carlyle in a like-for-like swap.

The opening 15 minutes did see Saints much more insightful when in possession in the final third.

A loid shout for hands in the opening 60 seconds was waved away and Carlyle almost made an instant impact but found the head of Luke Russe, stood on the line, in the way of his thumped effort.

Gio Rasulo forced Wright into a save as well but Saints were given an almighty let-off on the hour when the unmarked Smith skewed a shot from the edge of the box wide.

Ewan Clark also went close for Bath with a curling effort but Saints were the ones doing more of the pressing as they tried to rectify the situation.

They should have pulled one back on 69 minutes when Bath defender Jack Batten inexplicably passed from inside his own area straight to Blackman.

The City midfielder though pulled his shot wide of the near post.

David Noble's last throw of the dice came with 15 minutes of the 90 remaining, Shaun Jeffers and Bobby Dunn both introduced.

There was more frantic pressing but a comeback never seemed likely.

No further chances hammered that point home.

Match details

St Albans City: Johnson, James, B.Smith, Bowry (Carlyle 46), M.Clark, Blackman (Jeffers 75), Rasulo, Weiss, Georgiou (Dunn 75), Fage, Wyatt.

Subs (not used): Brown, Da Silva.

Booked: Blackman 16

 

Bath City: Wright, Greenslade, Dyer, Batten, Parselle, T.Smith, Frear (Hayfield 60), E.Clark, Thomas (Lines 87), Wilson (Cooke 70), Russe.

Subs (not used): Raynes, Fletcher.

Goals: Wilson (pen) 34, James (og) 41

Booked: T.Smith 30, Dyer 82

 

HT: St Albans City 0 Bath City 2

Added time: 6

Referee: Emily Heaslip (Bury St Edmunds)

Attendance: 1,745