City boss admits third defeat in seven matches is ‘unacceptable’

St Albans City 1 Chichester City 2 (Isthmian League Premier Division)

From Jess Unwin at Clarence Park, photos by Jim Standen

Saints were once again the architects of their own downfall as another game with too many defensive errors and missed chances saw them slip to their third home defeat in a row.

After Saturday’s loss to Chichester, a clearly frustrated Gary McCann told the St Albans Times: “It’s a running trait with us at the moment, especially at home, we seem to be conceding really terrible, avoidable goals.”

The Saints boss was particularly unhappy with Chichester’s 77th-minute winner, which was bundled in by Joseph Moore after a long throw-in caused confusion in the St Albans penalty area.

McCann, who was himself a goalkeeper in his playing days, said: “I felt the throw-in should have been dealt with by the goalkeeper. I felt with where it bounced and where it ended up, for me, I think the goalkeeper’s got to help us there.”

Saints’ keeper Marcus Norman has seemed a calm, dependable figure between the sticks this season, but questions could justifiably be asked about his role in Chichester’s opening goal too.

That came in the 32nd minute, and while it’s true it wasn’t Norman’s fault that St Albans were too easily undone by one long ball in a Chichester counterattack, his decision to come out of his penalty area in an attempt to clear gave the visitors’ striker Ethan Prichard the chance to coolly lift the ball over his head and into the net.

In Norman’s defence (literally), Saints had to rely on a promising but youthful centre back pairing on Saturday – Kieran Gauthier, 21, and loan signing Jake Grante, 19. The experience of more seasoned campaigners like Michael Bostwick and Jamal Fyfield, who are currently injured, would surely have made a difference in this contest.

In between the two Chichester goals, St Albans did score a good one themselves when, on 47 minutes, Alex Dyer’s dinked pass into the visitor’s penalty area found Troy Perez-Duah, who kept his nerve to beat the Lilywhites keeper Kieran Magee.

But the home team’s failure to convert any of the other opportunities they carved out during the periods when they dominated possession was just as galling for Saints fans as any defensive shortcomings.

McCann said: “We scored a good goal and had some really good moments outside of that, but we’ve still found a way to lose the game and that is something that’s pretty damning and pretty hard to digest at the moment.”

Referring to the club’s results since his appointment on 13 November, McCann added: “We’re now seven games in and we’ve lost three of them and that’s unacceptable.

“We [the management team] have come in here get a march on and climb up the table and get us in touch with the playoffs. We’re not going to achieve that if we continue to concede the goals we’re conceding and that’s something that needs to be halted quickly.

“How do we halt it? We can continue to do all the work we’re doing on the training pitch, but also what might need to happen is a personnel change in one or two areas. Now that could be from within – we’ve got players returning from injury – but it might need one or two from the outside.”

Saints’ inconsistent home form of late hasn’t yet been reflected in the support they get at Clarence Park and a crowd of 1,306 was attracted to the game on Saturday, despite chilly conditions and the demands of pre-Christmas shopping.

St Albans very nearly fell behind in the 15th minute when Gauthier carelessly lost possession but then made up for his mistake by clearing off the line.

After that let-off, Saints did go 1-0 down 15 minutes later. Leo Sery’s snap effort was blocked and Chichester both cleared their lines and opened up the St Albans defence with one long pass. Pritchard beat Lewis Page and Norman to the ball and produced an impressive finish.

Saints responded well and just a few minutes later an intelligent layoff by Zane Banton created a great chance for Dyer to level, but his half volley was straight at keeper Magee, who pushed the ball over the bar. Magee saved his side again by dening Jasper Mather’s close-range effort before finally being beaten by Perez-Duah’s equaliser just before the break.

After falling behind again in the second half, Saints once more built up a head of steam in the closing minutes as they tried to salvage at least a point, but a succession of chances went begging.

First, Banton’s shot was pushed wide of the post by Magee and then, from the resulting corner, Alex Wall should have netted but instead headed over. Adrian Mariappa was denied from eight yards out when his effort was deflected off target and Harrison Smith’s header from Page’s cross looked to be destined for the bottom corner of the net before Magee once again pulled off a smart save to clinch all three points for the team from West Sussex.

• This coming Saturday, St Albans City reach the halfway point in their campaign to win promotion back to the National League South with a tough away match against top-six side Dartford. Kick-off at Princes Park is 3pm.