St Albans City joint boss James Gray admitted he was a relieved man after seeing the Saints claim their first win of the season with a 1-0 triumph at Margate on Saturday.

After seven games in the Vanarama National League South without a victory, Louie Theophanous struck a second half winner for the Clarence Park club.

Gray told the club website: “It’s a relief to get the first three points on the board.

“It was a joint effort from everybody involved, the fans came down and made a little bit of noise for us, we’ve had a long journey.

“First half didn’t really go to plan, [we] changed a few things around for the second half and I’m pleased that Theo managed to get the goal for us to secure us a 1-0 victory.”

It was the striker’s third goal of the season since joining the club from Farnborough in July.

Gray is delighted with the number nine’s contribution so far.

“He looks like he’s going to score every time he plays and that’s one thing we need from him,” he said.

“He knows where the back of the net is, he’s had to do a bit of an unselfish job for us, we changed things around second half to get to grips with how they were playing, and he worked his socks off and the harder you work the luckier you get.

“If you give him the ball in and around the 18 yard box, and he can create a little bit of time and space for himself, nine times out of 10 he’ll put it in the back of the net.

“I’m pleased for him, but it was a joint effort and we defended superbly.

“We’ll take them [the points] and try and build a little bit of momentum moving forward now.”

City face another trip to the coast this Saturday as they head to Truro City looking to add to their league tally of five points from eight games.

Truro, like St Albans, have not had the best of starts to the season and have just one more point than their weekend opponents.