09 Feb 2026
Burgess Hill 0 St Albans City 1 (Isthmian League Premier Division)
By Jess Unwin, file photo by Jim Standen
New signing Sam Donkin made a crucial stoppage-time save in his debut game to help St Albans City clinch victory and put an end to the Saints’ recent losing streak.
St Albans announced the recruitment of 28-year-old Donkin – joining from manager Gary McCann’s former club Billericay Town – just a couple of hours before Saturday’s kick-off.
Donkin’s contribution, denying a last-gasp Burgess Hill equaliser from a free kick, ensured a Keiran Petrie 20 th -minute strike was the winner for Saints.
Petrie produced some fine footwork before firing Saints ahead and now has three goals and two assists in total for City, despite relatively little game time since arriving at Clarence Park in a dual registration deal with Wealdstone at the end of November.
Hillians looked to be at further disadvantage on Saturday when their keeper Roco Rees was forced off injured after half an hour. With no goalkeeper on the bench, the home team had to play the majority of the game with striker Ben Pope in goal.
Pope did well, denying Petrie a second goal early in the second half, and Burgess Hill almost levelled the scores after 52 minutes but Donkin kept out Kaan Bennett’s shot.
Pope continued to impress as the stand-in goalie for Hillians, making a brilliant one-handed stop to keep the score at 1-0 with 20 minutes to play. Then, in the dying moments, Donkin had his moment of glory between the sticks, keeping Hill at bay and wrapping up the points for the Saints.
Post-match, Gary McCann told the club’s YouTube: “When you come away from home and win 1-0 it’s about individuals doing their jobs, staying to task, and I think there were some really good performances out there today.
“We could have made it a little easier for ourselves – I felt we didn’t keep the ball well enough in the final third, especially in the second half, but what we had today was a really good defensive display, from the front end of the pitch right back to the goalkeeper, who I thought was excellent today.”
On his new goalkeeper, he added: “He’s a really top person away from the football pitch but he’s a winner on it and he’s got great attributes as a goalkeeper.
“He was very much one of our key performers last year in a really successful team at my previous club. He’s lost his way a little bit recently – I think he’d be the first to admit that – and didn’t get to the levels he’s capable of.
“But he’s got the right attributes both with his feet and with his hands and you saw today that when balls went into the box, he was in amongst it dealing with it – and of course he made a great stop which was really important for us right in the last minute.”
McCann continued: “I must add also that young Gabriel Ortelli, who’s on loan from Watford, has been outstanding since he came into the building. He’s not let the football club down at all so, at the moment, we’ve got two great goalkeepers at the football club.”
Donkin began his career at St Neots Town before going on to gain experience with Corby Town, Stamford, Whitehawk, Biggleswade Town and Leiston. His signing for Saints comes around 10 years after a previous month-long spell at Clarence Park back in 2016.
- The latest injury news is that Jamal Fyfield is out with an ankle problem for a couple of weeks, Alex Wall has a knee niggle and James Sweet is also not fit to play.
- St Albans City have confirmed the mutual termination of goalkeeper Magnus Norman’s contract. He will finish the season at his new club, Sholing FC, in the Southern League Premier Division South.
- Next up for Saints is an away game against Welling United this Saturday (14th). City won the reverse fixture 2-1 in October. Kick-off is 3pm.
