Gray calls Wealdstone win bittersweet

Saturday’s win over Wealdstone was bittersweet, admitted St Albans City joint manager James Gray.

While he enjoyed seeing John Frendo score either side of Lee Clarke to hand his side a 3-0 win at Lower Mead, he did not take delight in heaping more misery on a club he captained and made over 100 appearances for.

“It’s a strange feeling for me because I had such a good time here when I played and obviously I have massive respect for Gordon [Bartlett, Wealdstone manager]; he’s a top bloke and works hard for the club, as do back room staff,” Gray told Saintsnet.

“It’s a bit like sleeping with your best mate’s missus. I don’t want to take a lot out of it – it’s three points, a clean sheet and a good performance but I’ll take more enjoyment from beating sides that I haven’t played for.”

The win kept the Stones at the foot of the Vanarama Conference South table with a single win to their name while City leap up to sixth place.

Speaking about the performance, Gray added: “I don’t think we looked like losing but we didn’t reach heights that we’re capable of.

“We played in a low gear in the first half. I thought they were there for the taking, we played within ourselves and if not for some individual brilliance from John Frendo then we could have gone in 0-0 which I would have been disappointed with.

“In the second half we were much better and moved it around quicker. We’re trying to get the right balance of not giving away soft goals but being brave enough to play when we’ve got it.

“The balance was not quite right but the second half was much better.”