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St Albans Romans v Welwyn St Mary’s

10.30am 5 October 2024

Herts and Borders Churches League
St Albans Romans 1 Welwyn St Mary’s 4 (att 8)

Being in Hertfordshire for the weekend made this a sensible choice, and worth the effort of overcoming the foibles of the league’s presence on the FA’s Full Time website, which listed the wrong venue and an incorrect kick off time.

Like many amateur leagues this is a competition that, sadly, appears to be in decline. When I first watched a game in it, in 2018, it had two divisions. Now it’s down to one, with just six teams.

Two of those six are St Albans Romans. The first team remain level on points with their reserves after this defeat at the hands of Welwyn St Mary’s.

The visitors made the better start, and it was no surprise when they went ahead after nine minutes. Romans’ keeper made a series of good saves, helped at times by less than clinical finishing, to keep the deficit at 1-0 until well into the second half. 

Eventually he was beaten again, about 20 minutes into the half, only for St Albans to pull a goal back almost immediately. They couldn’t complete a comeback though, and two late goals, one in stoppage time, gave Welwyn a comfortable win.

Despite what Full Time says, St Albans Romans play at a complex that’s shared by St Albans rugby club and a football club called Harvesters. Players change at the rugby club and cross the main rugby pitch to reach their pitch, which was roped off on both touchlines.








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