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Having bounced back from last week’s home loss to Avondale Heights with a 3-1 away victory to Whittlesea Ranges, St Albans are back on the winner’s list and again pushing for top spot on the NPL 1 ladder.
After going down a goal early on Friday night, St Albans responded almost immediately, equalising through Sean McIlroy, before two second half goals to Martin Mason and Adam Nakic sealed the three points for the Saints.
Coach Toby Paterson was buoyed by his side’s ability to respond to last week’s loss, as well as the poor start against Whittlesea, in positive fashion.
“There was not much difference in the play [from last week], obviously a surface like this makes a big difference. We do encourage the boys to get it down and pass it, move the ball around, it’s very hard at home because the pitch leaves a lot to be desired,” Paterson said.
“So nothing really changed in the game plan, [though] we changed formation after five minutes when we lost a goal and the boys responded well.
“We started brightly, we said that we’d come here and attack which we did. We just got caught flat at the back… and they’ve capitalized. But fair play to the boys, they responded quickly and we scored not long after that so credit to them for coming back so soon.
“We were disheartened last week because we created enough chances, it was disappointing last week, I thought we should have won that game but this week the boys responded terrifically.”
Despite the short turnaround, which saw their last game on Sunday backed up with another one on Friday, the Saints coach was unconcerned, praising his backroom staff for ensuring his players were at peak physical condition.
“Look there is a couple [of niggles], we’ve been carrying a few injuries the past two weeks, but I have to say [assistant] Steve Laurie’s been fantastic in the way he’s gotten the boys fit, we do spend a lot of time with them with the rehab, and we’ve got the physio and masseuse in there,” he said.
“So far we’ve managed to get by week to week, we haven’t lost too many key figures, generally the injuries have been good because we’ve been working hard to treat them properly, and I think that’s an important factor to keep the strength in the squad.”
The Scotsman was particularly happy with his attacking stocks, with Juso Julardzija, Sean McIlroy, Ajak Panek and Liam Francis proving handfuls for opposition defences.
“We’ve got four strikers all fighting for a place, the boys have done well up front, they work very hard and that makes a difference when you work hard, he said.”
St Albans return to Churchill Reserve on Sunday to play Moreland. Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the club has been deducted three NPL 1 season points for failing to field a side in an Under-13’s fixture.
Photo: Roberto Filitti