United 0
St Albans 4
(Jeffers 7′, 37′, Rasulo 37′ 81′)
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United were comprehensively beaten on Saturday, as St Albans ran out 4-0 winners at Plainmoor.
The visitors made the perfect start, with Shaun Jeffers giving St Albans the lead, before Girogio Rasulo doubled that lead later in the first half. A second from Jeffers before the interval put the away team in full charge, before Rasulo added further gloss in the second half with his second, and his side’s fourth.
United boss Gary Johnson gave a full debut to new signing Austen Booth in addition to two other changes to the side that lost 4-2 at Worthing last Saturday, as Finley Craske and Lewis Collins took their places alongside Booth in the starting XI, with the injured Ross Marshall and suspended duo of Will Jenkins Davies and Dean Moxey all dropping out of the matchday squad.
There were only seven minutes on the clock when The Saints broke the deadlock. A through ball saw Jeffers hold off the attentions of Finley Craske before bearing down on Mark Halstead, and although Torquay’s No.1 made a fine save, Jeffers confidently fired home the rebound to make it 1-0.
Three minutes later the advantage was nearly doubled, however on this occasion, all in yellow were relieved to see Jeffers rattle the crossbar.
The Gulls appeared to treat that let-off as a wake-up call, and after working their way back into proceedings, they created some chances themselves..
A good run from Dan Martin down the left saw him find space to fire the ball across the box to Brad Ash, however the Torquay striker unfortunately couldn’t get enough power on the effort to restore parity, with Collins unable to make his follow-up count.
Mitchell Weiss was the next player to threaten in the 32rd minute, as the St Albans man forced United’s backline to retreat before flashing a shot wide of the target.
In what was becoming a very open encounter, The Gulls again looked to hit back, with Collins forcing a save from goalkeeper Michael Johnson with a snapshot inside the box.
Things got worse before the break though.
In the 37th minute, George Hoddle fed Rasulo, who produced a cool finish to double St Albans’ lead, and then, four minutes before the interval it was three.
This time Weiss’ header saw Jeffers find himself through in on goal again, with the Saints striker duly dispatching his effort with ease to make it 3-0.
After a nightmare first 45 minutes, United faced an uphill task in the second.
A header from Ethon Archer just after the restart gave some hope of an immediate response, however Johnson’s men weren’t able to follow that up with much else in the way of clear-cut chances.
In fact, it was St Albans that were looking the more threatening for the next ten minutes or so, before a succession of corners – United’s first of the game – prompted The Gulls to gain a bit of a foothold in the game.
With a heavy deficit against them, the men in yellow were forced to gamble, and St Albans always looking dangerous on the break.
Weiss forced Halstead into a fine save on the hour-mark, as Torquay were forced to get back in numbers to prevent the damage getting even worse.
The Gulls continued to plug away without much success, but again it was The Saints who looked more clinical, and with twelve minutes remaining, it was very nearly 4-0.
With Hoddle allowed to roam into dangerous territory, his cross found Burger to fire against the crossbar, with Jeffers only denied from the rebound thanks to Ollie Tomlinson’s goalline clearance.
It was only a temporary reprieve though.
Another Jeffers strike on goal prompted Calum Thomas to take desperate action, and although the young defender did well to keep the initial effort out, Rasulo was on hand to head home the rebound and make it four.
There will be little time for United to feel sorry for themselves though, with a trip to Maidstone next up on the agenda on Tuesday.
UNITED: 1. Mark Halstead (c), 3. Dan Martin, 4. Tom Lapslie, 5. Austen Booth, 10. Lewis Collins, 11. Brad Ash, 14. Brett McGavin, 15. Finley Craske (24. Calum Thomas, 15′), 17. Dillon De Silva, 23. Ollie Tomlinson, 30. Ethon Archer (8. Asa Hall, 59′).
SUBS NOT USED: 22. Rhys Lovett, 34. Jacob Wellington.
Yellow Card: Thomas 90+2′
ST ALBANS: 1. Michael Johnson, 2. Jack James, 4. Ben Smith, 5. Dan Bowry, 6. Michael Clark (22. Nathan Carlyle, 78′), 8. Girogio Rasulo, 9. Shaun Jeffers, 11. Zane Banton (16. Harun Hamid, 82′), 12. Mitchell Weiss (19. Jake Burger, 68′), 14. Joe Partington (c), 28. George Hoddle.
SUBS NOT USED: 13. Sam Bentley, 24. Ibby Akanbi.
Yellow Card: Smith 45+2′, Carlyle 80′
Attendance: 2,241 (62 away)