Chatham Town’s long wait for a return to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup will have to extend into an 85th year, after a 2-0 defeat to St Albans City.

In truth the result was probably right, but Chatham will exit this year’s competition beaten, but definitely not bowed after a performance where they dominated their higher ranked opponents for the majority of the first half.

It took a moment of opportunism in first half stoppage time for the prolific John Frendo to separate the teams, but the killer blow was dealt by David Keenleyside’s finish just three minutes into the second period.

If Lee Hales’ drive, which crashed down off the underside of the bar had been given, leading to everyone stopping and asking momentarily “did it? didn’t’ it?”, it could have been a very different finish, but for once, Kevin Watson’s men couldn’t find that crucial spark when they needed it most.

In the build-up to the game, Watson was keen to impress that his charges should be able to come off the pitch with a clear conscience, and this they did. The manager explained afterwards, “I’m very proud of the lads. For a long time in the first half I thought we were the better side.”

“I’m not saying we deserved to win the game, because when you lose, you rarely deserve anything else as there are a lot of elements over ninety minutes that you haven’t done right.  But overall, a lot of players can go away with their clear conscience tonight.”

“Their first goal came against the run of play, but I’ve watched him (John Frendo) and he’s a good player. Every goal is avoidable and maybe we could have stopped the ball coming into the box, but if you beat yourself up about it, you never have the chance to move forward.”

“They set up in a different formation and we caused them problems; probably more that they had against their league leaders last Monday.”

“If we’d kept one goal in it until the death, there’s always a chance. Lee (Hales) has hit the crossbar; I don’t know if it went in or not, but if we’d got it back to one then it would have been an interesting game to see if we could have played on any nerves in the dying minutes.”

“We knew it would be a slightly different game when we came out again, especially with the weather elements, but wanted to keep it to one. Obviously they then go two up; the first header was too easy for me, then Jack’s (Bradshaw) has had to commit, which I’ve no problem with.”

“It’s never nice to concede from a set piece because we work so hard on them, so maybe we had to be a bit more alert. But there’s no one to blame, I don’t think anyone played poorly today and we had some truly outstanding performances.”

“Our wide players, who have been outstanding, will probably be a bit upset that they didn’t create more today.”

“That was the difference. Although we had a lot of possession, we didn’t really work their goalkeeper enough, or capitalise on the good areas we got into.”

“That has happened in other games, so it’s something we need to address. Resilience and good football created the chances we did get, so we can take that away as a positive from the game.”

The opening 20 minutes of the game saw both sides sparring, trying to gain an advantage, but St Albans, playing with the wind at their backs, wasted numerous opportunities by playing the long ball game. Chatham seemed to gain confidence from the opening exchanges, and had three chances in a minute.

Kalvin Morath-Gibbs delivered a whipped cross in from the right wing that Austin Gacheru and St Albans’ keeper Paul Bastock both missed. As the ball bounced at the back post, it was just too high for Kieran McCann to steer home.

In the meantime, the referee had whistled for a late foul on the Chatham full-back as he delivered the cross, and from this free kick, Drew Crush rose unchallenged to meet Greg Benbow’s delivery, but his header was deflected wide. Then from the corner, Brad Potter flicked an effort towards the target but the 43-year old Bastock was able to claim comfortably.

Chatham’s defence was doing well to keep John Frendo quiet, but as the half wore on, the St Albans forward began to have more joy around the edge of the area, to Chatham’s cost. Frendo led a counter attack on 36 that ended with Mark Nwokeji latching onto James Comley’s cross, but somehow Nwokeji found the boundary boards with the goal at his mercy.

Frendo had a low drive parried away by Jack Bradshaw as the half entered injury-time, but wouldn’t be denied seconds later. Former Dartford winger, Richard Graham curled a tantalising ball in from the right wing, and Frendo nipped in ahead of Brad Potter to steer the ball into the right corner with the outside of his left foot.

Frendo had a further chance blocked by Bradshaw’s right knee, as the St Albans forward seemed to be leading a one-man campaign against the Chatham defence. But his team-mates came to the party three minutes into the second half, as St Albans doubled their lead.

 Graham’s corner was headed goalward by Darren Locke, unmarked on the edge of the box. As Bradshaw advance to catch the ball, Nwokeji ghosted in and flicked the ball against the bar, and as Chatham’s defence scrambled back onto the line, David Keenleyside smashed the ball through the bodies into the corner of the goal.

Nwokeji created a chance for Frendo, somewhat simpler than that for his goal, but somehow Frendo steered the ball wide. While at the other end, McCann cut in from the left wing, but sliced his shot across the face of goal without testing Bastock, and the veteran keeper had to scurry across his goal as Morath-Gibbs’s cross caught the wind and skimmed off the top of the bar.

Chatham thought they had earned their way back into the game, as Lee Hales’ fierce shot crashed down off the underside of the bar, and no one was sure whether the ball had crossed the line or not.

If Hales’ effort had counted, it would have been an interesting last fifteen minutes, as Andy Constable saw a header fly wide and Morath-Gibbs had a shot well saved by Bastock, but in the end the hosts efforts were in vain.

With 849 in attendance, Chatham’s largest since the last Bluebell Hill derby against Maidstone United, Watson admitted that he hopes “more people come back as it has given us a chance to put Chatham Town on the map.  Nobody can complain about paying the entrance fee today because I think it was a good game and a spectacle.”

“If people come down and watch us, they will get a good experience, and hopefully they’ll want to come back.”

“We need to use this as a learning curve to show what we could attain if we put our minds to it. We need to apply it in the Trophy and the League programme because at this time, it’s too early to call the season a success.”

CHATHAM TOWN: Jack Bradshaw, Kalvin Morath-Gibbs, Greg Benbow, Matt Solly, Brad Potter, Drew Crush, Lee Hales, Luke May (Andy Constable 60), Austin Gacheru © (Billy Bennett 84), Alfie May, Kieran McCann (Ricardo Andre 66).

Subs not used: Liam Hickey, Taylor McDonagh, James Alderman, Lee Kidman.

Bookings: Matt Solly 45, Kalvin Morath-Gibbs 57, Andy Constable 75.

ST ALBANS CITY: Paul Bastock, Danny Green, Lee Chappell, Ram Marwa, Ryan Wharton, Darren Locke, David Keenleyside (Chris Watters 71), James Comley, John Frendo (Greg Ngoyi 81), Mark Nwokeji, Richard Graham (James Kaloczi 86).

Subs not used: Chris Henry, Harrison Georgiou, Elliott Bailey, Tom Coulton.

Goals: John Frendo 45, David Keenleyside 48.

Bookings: John Frendo 25, Richard Graham 59, Ryan Wharton 79, Darren Locke 90.

Attendance: 849

Referee: Mr Nigel Lugg (Coulsdon, Surrey)
Assistants: Mr Marcus Carmichael (Camberley, Surrey) and Mr Matt Goldsmith (Hastings)

Pictures supplied by www.psp-images.co.uk