St Albans City vs Ebbsfleet United
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| Welcome to Clarence Park. |
Week two of no games for Boston. Week two of finding a relatively local game. Week two of a lie-in on Saturday morning, I could get used to this. This weeks chosen game was a B.S.B. Conference South game at
Clarence Park. I'd lived five miles from the home of St Albans for three years and only now I've moved away do I bother going. I had attempted the trip once on a cold Tuesday night but my trip was scuppered by a bus strike. Bloody typical. This time, however, I did make it to the ground as the trains proved a mite more reliable than the bus service.
Clarence Park looks fairly foreboding from the outside and the inside isn't much better. The ground has all the makings of classic non-league - it could do with a tidy up in other words. Eleven pounds entry is a little steep for a struggling side in a shabby ground and might go some way to explaining why attendances hover around the 350 mark; a little low for a city. The journey through the turnstiles and up the steps to the top of the terrace makes it feel like entering an amphitheater, terraces surround three sides of the ground with a raised seating section running along the dug-out side of the pitch. There is a small amount of covering over the terrace straddling the half-way line. The terracing is heavily populated by grass growing through it and enclosed by a large tin wall.
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| The terrace has seen better days. |
There is a supporters bar which sits above the seated section and can be accessed by leaving the ground through a back entrance - make sure to keep your ticket to get back in! The bar furnishing matches much of the rest of the ground. That said the real quality of a bar can only be judged by it's beer and this was excellent; an offering of local, micro-brewed ale goes a long way. The bar was almost entirely populated by 'Fleet fans and there was a feeling that this would be the Saints greatest attendance of the season so far - this turned out to be correct with 472 in attendance. I ended up discussing the problems of St Albans with a Geordie called Dave who encouraged people to support the team of the town in which they were born. This seemed a little odd at first until he explained he was a Geordie fan and was only at Clarence Park to report back to his university bound son who'd been born in St Albans.
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| Bazza: Legend. Fact. |
Dave informed me that the Saints had been struggling at the back, in the midfield and going forwards. The only options up front were two big men who had all the skill of Danny Davidson but none of the luck. In fact the only two good players were the left back and the legend that is Paul Bastock. Bazza was voted Boston's all time greatest player having made 625 appearances for us. Great goalkeeper.
The fears about the rest of the team seemed well founded when sixth place Ebbsfleet dominated the game straight from kick-off. Ebbsfleet were eleven games undefeated and St Albans didn't look like challenging this run. It took 18 minutes for the away side to break through as a Callum
Willock shot deflected over Bazza. The Saints were seeing plenty of the ball but they went long every time and seemed to struggle at winning the knock-downs. 'Fleet were the only team looking likely until the Saints finally managed to get hold of one of the long balls and Inih
Effiong slotted home for a frankly undeserved equalizer. Ten minutes later Ebbsfleet were back in front as Tom
Phipp headed home from a corner to end the half.
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| The travelling 'Fleet support. |
The second period followed a similar pattern of play. Ebbsfleet dominated completely, creating several chances which they were unable to convert. St Albans really struggled to get any of the ball and only managed one chance of note late on. A team on better form would have run out winners by a five or six goal margin, 'Fleet had to settle for the one. St Albans are going to have to improve dramatically to pull themselves out of trouble at the bottom of the table because - as Geordie Dave pointed out - a relegation may just kill a club struggling for attendances as things stand already.
Next up: Boston United attempt to go back to the top of the B.S.B. Conference North away at
Blyth Spartans.
N.B.: Boston do play away at
Guiseley on Tuesday but I can't go to that one. You can follow the game on the excellent
United Live service.
