By Tonci Prusac

In the final game of Round 13 of the NPL 1, St Albans Saints overcame third-placed Box Hill United to win 1-0 in a scrappy and at times dour contest at Churchill Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

Played on an uneven and bumpy pitch which made stringing multiple passes together an almost impossible feat, the only goal of the game came in the second half through a Stuart Nicholson strike.

The 1-0 win also handed Bentleigh recruit Stuart Webster a clean sheet in goals on his Saints debut.

It was always going to be a tough ask for the home side to front up against one of the league's high fliers, on the back of a bruising but ultimately triumphant Dockerty Cup quarter-final encounter against NPL outfit Northcote City last Wednesday night.

Inspired by the appearance of former St Albans junior and injured Socceroo World Cup star Ivan Franjic at a special club function on Thursday night, the Saints assumed an attacking mindset from the outset.

A great deal was at stake for the home side, as Toby Paterson’s men were fully aware a win would elevate them three spots up the ladder into fifth spot.

The Saints wasted an early opportunity, after earning a corner in the fourth minute and looked the more dangerous outfit for the vast majority of the opening stanza.

The only other notable occurrence in the opening stanza was a yellow card issued to Box Hill attacker Rinor Muriqi, who otherwise had a solid game and was one of Box Hill’s best on the day.

Nevertheless, the score remained locked at 0-0 come halftime, as both sets of players struggled to gain any real ascendancy on the bumpy surface.

Immediately after the break, Saints striker Nicholson was presented with a gilt-edged chance to score from close range in the 47th minute, but he blasted his effort straight into the arms of stunned Box Hill custodian Alexander Pavlidis.

Nicholson didn’t have to wait long to make amends. In the 60th minute he latched onto a deep cross and slammed the ball low, hard and to the right of Pavlidis, netting what was to eventually become the only goal of the game.

Despite some half-chances from the visitors to equalise, the Saints held on to record a memorable win and elevate themselves to fifth spot and just two wins away from second-placed Bulleen.

St Albans coach Toby Paterson was buoyant after the game, saying the result was his team’s best so far this season, despite the difficult terrain both teams had to contend with.

“We keep talking about the pitch week in, week out, but it is what it is. There’s not much you can do about it. As far as the result, today’s result was our best of the season without any doubt,” Paterson said.

“Box Hill are the best structured team in the league. They are very well drilled, highly efficient and so well organised. But today, everything clicked in place for us. It was an all-round solid performance capped off with a wonder goal by Stuart (Nicholson).”

Box Hill coach Arthur Giorgiou addressed his players in the changerooms for a very long time after the final whistle. When he finally emerged, he was disappointed but nonetheless maintained a positive attitude.

“I’m certainly a little disappointed with today’s effort. During the week, we asked the players if they felt they had evolved as a team, as a football team. Today was going to be the litmus test in many ways,” Georgiou said.

“In the end, in some ways they did show that they had progressed, in other ways they showed that they hadn’t. All in all, it was a fairly disappointing effort overall by the boys.”

In Round 14 action next weekend, Box Hill United hosts fourth-placed Richmond in a must-win encounter on Saturday, while the Saints are again at home, this time to lowly Springvale White Eagles on Sunday.

MATCH DETAILS

St Albans Saints 1 (Nicholson 60’) defeated  Box Hill United 0 at Churchill Reserve [HT: 0-0]

St. Albans Saints: 21 Stuart WEBSTER (GK), 17 Adam NAKIC, 4 Barry DEVLIN, 5 Felix ROSMAN, 14 Christopher ROSS, 2 Ryan McGUFFIE, 15 Konrad DOBRASZIEWICZ, 3 Ross HARVEY, 8 Stuart NICHOLSON, 11 Ryan BALDACCHINO (13 Nicholas CULLEN 58’), 9 Sean McILROY (16 Ajak PANEK 90’.

Subs unused: 1 Tonio BARESIC (GK), 7 Juso JULARDZIJA, 18 Teddros YABIO.

Yellow cards: None

Red cards: None

Box Hill United: 35 Alex PAVLIDIS (GK), 23 Josh VALADON, 22 Nick KOKOLAKIS, 12 Adrian DEL MONACO, 14 Ken ATHIU, 10 Rinor MURIQI, 9 Michael GERACE, 4 Chris IRWIN (15 George HOWARD 46’), 8 Alex SCHROEN, 7 Damien PETERS (Amgad MARIEH 68’), 18 Aaron PORCARO

Subs unused: 21 Christian PAVLIDIS, 16 Christian LAR, 2 Nicola SURDOSKI.

Yellow cards: MURIQI 37’.

Red cards: None

Pictured: St Albans' Chris Ross gets a pass away. Image credit: Roberto Filitti