St Albans City 2 (Drew Roberts 9p, 38) Dorchester Town 1 (Matt Groves 34p) James Ronayne at Clarence Park DREW Roberts double made it back-to-back victories for St Albans City with another three points from their match with Dorchester but the win came

St Albans City 2 (Drew Roberts 9p, 38)

Dorchester Town 1 (Matt Groves 34p)

James Ronayne at Clarence Park

DREW Roberts' double made it back-to-back victories for St Albans City with another three points from their match with Dorchester but the win came at a high price with James Quilter suffering a suspected broken leg.

Roberts' two first half strikes sandwiched a penalty from Matt Groves with no further goals coming in the second half.

With the game petering out Quilter, who was celebrating his 100th City appearance, was on the end of a late challenge from Town substitute Jules Emati-Emati that saw him helped from the field by two colleagues before receiving attention from two paramedics.

Quilter's injury came just hours after news broke that Solomon Shields would miss the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles. The in-form midfielder picked up the injury trying to maintain his fitness at the weekend and now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

With Shields out and Godfrey Poku's loan from Luton expiring, Steve Castle moved James Fisher into midfield alongside Rob Magwood with Quilter slotting in at right back.

The opening exchanges were frantic and end-to-end with Jake Beecroft firing over the bar from 30 yards with just 34 seconds on the clock.

Then a Dorchester corner from the right was nodded back into the middle where Ryan Moss' header came back off the bar before being cleared.

First blood went to City when referee Carl Fitch awarded them a penalty nine minutes in.

The impressive Jake Beecroft went on a mazy run in the box before playing an attempted one-two with Fisher. Before Beecroft could collect the return pass Dorchester skipper Kevin Hill stuck out a hand and referee Fitch had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Up stepped Roberts who fired confidently past Regan Coward.

The goal seemed to spur on Dorchester and they went on to enjoy a really dominant spell.

A dangerous cross was parried by Bastock with Quilter and the City stopped combining to stop Moss from forcing the ball home.

A flowing move down Dorchester's left exposed the City defence and midfielder Warren Byerley looked certain to score after receiving Groves' pass only for Pete Smith to get in a last ditch block.

Dorchester were doing everything right except from putting the ball in the net with Byerley's venomous effort from close range flying agonisingly wide of the post.

A succession of corners were well defended by Ryan Frater, Bastock and Gary Cohen but the pressure eventually told when Fitch spotted a push in the area and awarded a penalty to the visitors. Groves took the kick sending Bastock the wrong way to level up proceedings.

Dorchester were level for just four minutes though as Roberts grabbed his second of the contest and 12th of the season.

A slip by Neil Martin let Beecroft in on the right. The Rushden midfielder got into the box, cut inside his man and just as it looked he'd taken too long on the ball, slipped a good pass to Roberts who fired home first time from six yards out.

It was harsh on the visitors who had played good football in the opening period, but City were in no mood to be charitable.

A free kick from Steve Devlin was blocked initially by the City wall but the Dorchester midfielder's second effort had to be tipped onto the post by Bastock.

The final chance of the half also went to the visitors with Bastock forced to tip Moss' speculative effort wide.

The second half didn't contain the same amount of action as the first. Nick Crittenden wriggled free on the right before teeing up Groves but he blazed over the bar.

City could have put the game beyond doubt when Beecroft released Roberts on the right, but City's top scorer took too long and the visitors were able to get back and snuff out the danger.

Visiting manager Ashley Vickers introduced Jules Emati-Emati in the 83rd minute and the striker had only been on the pitch about a minute when he clashed with Quilter. The Dorchester substitute received a yellow card while Quilter hobbled off with a nasty looking injury to be replaced by Ross Dedman.

Five minutes of added time were shown because of the delay but it was City who came closest to adding to the score.

Another jinking run by Smith saw the left-back crop up on City's right before slipping a pass to Roberts who had sprung the offside trap. The striker advanced to the edge of the box, dummied the last defender but fired over the bar.

St Albans City: Bastock; Quilter (Dedman 86), Everitt, Frater (c), Smith; Beecroft, Magwood, Fisher, Cohen (Sullivan 75); Dunn (Lindie 58), Roberts.

Subs not used: Peters, Lokando.

Dorchester Town: Coward; Jermyn, Walker, Hill (c), Martin; Crittenden, Byerley (Emati-Emati 83), Gleeson, Devlin; Moss, Groves (Coutts 63).

Subs not used: Bowles, Taylor, Gilbert.

Referee: Carl Fitch (Ipswich, Suffolk)

Att: 240

Man of the Match: Jake Beecroft.