24 Feb 2026
St Albans City 2 Billericay Town 0 (Isthmian League Premier Division)
Report by Jess Unwin, photos by Jim Standen
Second-half goals from City’s top scorer Leo Sery and club skipper Zane Banton clinched an impressive home win for St Albans against a Billericay team that had won all of their previous seven games.
Victory in front of a 1,165 crowd at Clarence Park means Saints have chalked up three clean sheets in a run of four matches unbeaten and are now eight points off the play-off places with 10 games to play.
Billericay had had the better chances in the first half on Saturday with Tommy Davis heading wide and a crisp right foot shot from Callum Watts hitting the side netting, but it was City who got their noses in front just moments after the start of the second half.
A miskicked clearance from Blues keeper Jacob Adams landed at the feet of Sam Smart who quickly put in a cross from the right wing that was met by Leo Sery with an unstoppable near post header.
Still among the top marksmen in the premier division, Sery must already be a strong contender for City’s player of the season. Not only has he bagged 17 goals in all competitions, he also jointly leads the way as the Saints player with the most league appearances (32) so far.
The other man on 32 games is veteran midfielder Alex Dyer, who deserves lots of praise for his consistent performances as the holding midfield player this season – a role that often goes unnoticed but is nevertheless vital.
Dyer’s calm but determined contribution was once again a positive factor as St Albans continued their second half improvement against Billericay. They went into a 2-0 lead on 62 minutes after a handball in the penalty area by Jay Porter, although with the referee’s view obscured, the spot kick was only eventually awarded thanks to the intervention of the linesman.
Despite missing a penalty in the recent 0-0 draw with Welling United, Banton picked up the ball and fired home confidently, low into the left-hand corner, giving the keeper no chance and essentially making the game safe for Saints.
Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel, St Albans manager Gary McCann said: “I had no doubt he [Banton] would step up and take it with the confidence he has. He’s been an absolute joy to work with, and I sincerely hope that continues for a long, long time.”
Saints supporters will surely agree. It was something of a coup when the club’s longest-serving player was persuaded to stay at Clarence Park at the start of this season despite relegation from the National League South and interest from other clubs, and the hope will be that he continues to commit his future to City.
With just 10 games left to play in the 2025-26 campaign, McCann said it was now results that “mattered over and above anything else”.
He added: “Performances have been good in many of our games, but results have not quite been quite there. Today, we got the performance and the result.”
He pointed to a better defensive showing generally against his former club and picked out City’s young centre back pairing of loanees Jake Grante and Sonny Hart, describing them as “outstanding” against a very strong Billericay forward line. Jack James switched to left back and Keiran Gauthier filled in at right back to complete the St Albans makeshift but successful back four line-up.
McCann said: “Jack James is an absolute soldier – he’s playing out of position with a bad back and a sore hamstring, but you wouldn’t know that. I’m pleased for Kieran as well because he’s been thrown in at right back today, which is not his favoured position, and he played his part and got the sponsor’s man of the match award.
“But there was a whole team out there today that I felt were right on their game and I thanked them in the changing room because it means a lot to the management team when we win like that.”
- City have at least half a dozen players out injured at the moment but left back Lewis Page might recover in time to be available for selection.
- Former St Albans stalwart Tom Bender, 33, has rejoined the club, signing from Billericay Town. The defender spent seven years with City, making 250 appearances. He has been an unused substitute in Saints’ last two matches.
- Next up for Saints is an away game this Saturday (28th) against Hashtag United, who have lost four of their last five games. City won the reverse fixture convincingly, thrashing Hashtag 4-1 in January. Kick-off is 3pm.
