Richmond deals Saints blow
By Matthew McNamara
Richmond has dealt St Albans Saints a massive blow in its promotion hopes, while keeping its own slim chances alive with a come-from-behind victory over the Saints at Churchill Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
Trailing 1-0 at half time and down to 10 men after Hamlet Armenian had been sent off in the first half, not many would have given the travelling Eagles a chance.
However Tom Cahill had different ideas and his brace was enough to see off a spirited St Albans side.
Referee James Milloy was kept busy in a fierce game and was called into action early when he gave Richmond winger Hamlet Armenian his marching orders.
In what can only be described as a brain fade, Armenian kicked out at his opponent and referee Milloy immediately deployed the red card.
The home side wasted no time in taking advantage, experienced centre back-cum-striker Barry Devlin giving the home side the lead after a goal mouth scramble in the 33rd minute.
But shortly after the break the visitors were level after a moment of solo brilliance from Cahill.
The Richmond striker neatly controlled the ball on his thigh before hammering home a volley from all of 25 yards to give the home side some hope.
That hope was soon to turn into something much more when Felix Rosman inexplicably received his second yellow for a somewhat pointless foul on Richmond keeper' Christian Rossi.
With both sides down to 10 men, the game opened up and Richmond took full advantage when Cahill was adjudged to have been fouled in the area.
He simply dusted himself off and cooly disposed of the penalty to give Richmond the lead.
The ascedancy seemed to continue with Richmond, as Peter Sawan had the next opportunity of the game, beating the offside trap before rounding Stuart Webster.
But the Scotsman did just enough to force Sawan wide and nullify the goalscoring threat.
Next to test Webster was Josh Knight, who on a rare venture forward, found himself one-on-one with Webster but the experienced Saints keeper' held his own to deny Knight.
St Albans reacted by throwing on Yusuf Yusuf to create more width but it was Devlin who had the best chance of the final stages when he was sent through one-on-one with Rossi, only to be denied by the 'keeper.
Richmond coach Rick Mensink was delighted with his side's ability to win after going down to 10 men so early.
"What a performance! We felt there was probably another red in the game the way the referee was handling it, and it sort of panned out how I thought it would pan out" Mensink said.
"What a superb strike from Cahill in the second minute of the second half and a cooly slotted penalty.
"Absolutely estactic today."
Meanwhile St Albans coach Toby Patterson was displeased at the result.
"1-0 up at half time and I thought we were totally in control. I did say at half time I thought the referee would try and even it up," Paterson said.
"Cahill is probably the best striker in this division the technique to hit that from 20/25 yards is brilliant.
"But we didn't come out at the start of the second half and I guess thats what you deserve."
MATCH DETAILS
St Albans Saints 1 (Devlin 33') lost to Richmond Eagles 2 (Cahill 47', 58' pen) at Churchill Reserve. [HT: 1-0]
St Albans: Stuart Webster, Ryan McGuffie, Felix Rosman, Barry Devlin, Christopher Ross, Tedros Yabio, Ross Harvey, Brodie Patterson, Adam Nakic, Nicholas Cullen (Yusuf Yusuf 70'), Sean McIlroy (Ajak Penek 74')
Unused Subs: Tonio Baresic, Ante Kozul, Konrad Dobraszkiewicz
Yellow Cards: Rosman 34', 49', Patterson 70'
Red Card: Rosman 49'
Richmond: Christian Rossi, Andrew Goff, Rylan Sadler, Mitch Bissinger, Liam Flynn, Tim Purcell (Daniel Milborrow 80'), Joshua Knight, Peter Sawan, Ryan Opperman (Sam Shepherd 89'), Hamlet Armenian, Tom Cahill
Unused Subs: Andrew Skoullos, Edward Chadwick
Yellow Card: Cahill 18'
Red Card: Armenian 22'
Pictured: Richmond players celebrate a goal (Image credit: Roberto Filitti)
Last Modified on 08/09/2014 13:04
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