Billericay Town host St Albans City at the AGP Arena on Bank Holiday Monday August 27th. After the shock of a poor performance ending in a 0-2 defeat away at Chippenham Town, the match versus the Saints offers the Blues an opportunity to get back on track quickly and provide reassurance to supporters.
Overall, Billericay’s return of 13 points, and only one defeat, is highly satisfactory from six matches. Sitting in third place in the table after a thumping win versus Truro in the first game, hard-fought home defeat of impressive Wealdstone, and perhaps the best result so far, a clinical away victory at Welling United augurs well for a successful campaign. In football, you are only as good as the last result so the first loss in a game the Blues were expected on paper to win is a disappointment.
There had been signs of a lack of fluency in the second half of the last home game versus Weston-Super-Mare. With injuries constraining selection on the flanks, a more prosaic line-up offering minimal width was selected. As the Blues established an early 3-0 lead, the game initially ran according to most supporters’ expectations of a convincing home win. A fight-back from W-S-M, which is a good footballing side, saw Billericay under pressure and pegged back to 3-2. Options from the bench, and the deadly Jake Robinson, helped the Blues regain control and finish 4-2 victors.
The trip to Chippenham saw several changes to the team with first starts for centre-back Hayles and centre-forward Cunnington. This was perhaps a nod to the physical demands of two games in three days and the desire to try a more direct approach in Wiltshire. With Callum Kennedy fit, it was no surprise to see him back in the team although, with Jake Howells only on the bench, the dynamic Kennedy-Howells partnership on the left flank was not re-instated. The “ bad day at the office” mentioned after the game by Manager, Harry Wheeler, suggests that alterations to the line-up for the St. Albans match will be actively considered. More on Billericay Town team news later in the piece.
St Albans City come to the AGP in mixed form having have made a muted start to the season with two wins, three losses, and, most recently, a 1-1 draw away at Eastbourne Borough, leaving them in 16th position. Both victories – away at Weston-super-Mare and at home to Hungerford Town – were by the same score line (3-2) versus sides struggling in the lower reaches of the League. The positive result at high-flying Eastbourne bodes well after the difficult start and indicates form is improving.
Despite the usual stuff from football managers that any game is just three points, we think the visit of St. Albans will have special significance for Billericay boss, Harry Wheeler. Hailing from the town, and having watched the team since the age of four, Wheeler spent three years at the club as Head Coach before being elevated to the caretaker manager role in December 2015. After Wheeler completed a 10 game spell in charge, current St Albans manager, ex-Arsenal striker, Ian Allinson, took over in the dug-out in February 2016. With Wheeler dropping down to assistant-manager, Allinson was able to secure the club’s National South status on the final day of the 2015-16 season.
Fortunes have improved over the past two seasons and St. Albans ended the 2017-18 campaign in a creditable 8th position. It could have been even better if not for a poor run-in, featuring four defeats in the last five games. Ultimately the Saints ended up just one place and four points below the play-off spots. With a much tougher League this campaign, early results see the Saints at the wrong end of the table. Whilst fortunes can change quickly with a couple of wins on the spin, early results indicate that a top 10 finish in 2018-19 may be a challenge for St. Albans to achieve this time.
In terms of recruits for 2018-19, the Saints have taken on board lessons learnt from the last campaign and moved to address defensive weaknesses, which saw 58 League goals conceded. In from Bostik Premier side, Hendon, comes the experience of Dave Diedhiou, 29, who is best known as a defensive midfielder but can also hold his own at centre-back. At left full-back, Allinson has brought in Ben Wyatt ,22, who featured regularly for last year’s National South play-off winners, Braintree Town. A late, but promising, addition to the squad is centre-back, Richard Sho Silva, 26, recruited from Dartford, who provides physicality at the back and scored on full debut v Oxford City.
New faces up-front include Ralston Gabriel, 27, who fired 32 goals last season propelling Haringey Borough into the Bostik Premier via the play-off’s. Any concerns on the two division step-up-have been put to rest for now with four goals in the first six League matches. Zimbabwean striker, David Moyo, 23, joins from National South rivals, Hemel Hempstead. Moyo has begun strongly for Saints with a stunning goal v Woking on debut and has started all but one of the early season matches. In reserve, pacy winger Khale da Costa has been signed from Concord Rangers although his starts have been limited to date to filling in as wing-back on either flank to cover for injuries/suspensions.
Key performers retained from the last campaign include leading scorer, Sam Merson, who hit the back of the net twenty times last season. Attacking midfielder, Zane Banton, with nine goals in 35 starts, also penned a new deal over the summer. At the back, former England U-19 goal-keeper, Dean Snedker, centre-back, and last year’s Player of the Season, Tom Bender, and experienced right-back, Ben Herd, all take their places in the starting X1 for the 2018-19 season. Within central midfield, we expect the blend of intelligent passing from ex-Bristol City and Exeter City man, David Noble ,36, to complement the industry of ex-Fulham youth and young prospect, Solomon Sambou.
We think new additions have on balance offset the impact of some notable departures. These include talented left-winger Rhys Murrell-Williamson, who weighed in with 11 goals last season. Returning to Clarence Park this month, he fulfilled the usual law of the ex-player by scoring against the Saints for his new club, Hampton & Richmond. Also on the move to the Beavers is right-winger, Shaun Lucien. Striker, Charlie Walker, source of 7 League goals last campaign, has signed for Eastbourne Borough and box-to-box midfielder Kieran Monlouis signed over the week-end for Scottish Premiership side, Hamilton Academicals.
The coming season at Clarence Park has heralded the introduction of a different system of play with Allinson opting to start with a 3-5-2 wing-back formation. The rationale appears to be one of increasing defensive solidity whilst giving sufficient flexibility to play two strikers. At times, the set-up can evolve into 4-3-3 with the addition of an extra striker – as per the introduction of Merson when trailing to Hampton & Richmond. This approach contrasts with the previous campaign when the team principally operated with a lone striker served by two speedy wingers. At that time, the Saints employed a five man midfield, using three players in central areas buttressed by wide-men.
It is fair to say that similar deficiencies to the previous campaign have endured and the tactical change in approach still looks some way short of producing the desired results. With 13 goals conceded in six games, defensive issues remain a concern. New signing, Diedhiou, expected to be out for a further month, is a big miss in terms of leadership on the field. On a more positive note, the Saints are still firing at the top end of the pitch and with three good options to select for two starting forward roles. Gabriel has hit the ground running with goals, we like the look of Moyo, and the leading scorer from last year, Merson, is currently operating in reserve from the bench.
After the poor result at Chippenham, we think there will be changes made to the Billericay team. With two games in three days, option such as Jake Howells and Alfie Potter – both on the bench on Saturday – could be in line for starts. Ricky Modeste, who has been out injured, may be available for selection on Monday. Up front, we expect to see top scorer Jake Robinson accompanied by any one from Coombes, Cunnington, or Emmanuel. Overall, we’d like to see the dynamic threat from the flanks return to the side, which plays to the strength of the front-line and has served the Blues well.
With Billericay having something to prove after incurring their first defeat of the season, and the shock of not scoring for the first time in 87 games, we expect a lively and exciting game. It will be interesting to see if the Blues persist with the more defensive 4-2-3-1 system, which has its merits versus the expected Saints 5-3-2 formation, or whether the Blues look to be expansive at home in an aggressive 4-3-3 set-up.
Come down to the AGP on Monday and find out! A trip to current leaders, Woking, lies ahead next Saturday so three points v St. Albans are exactly what is needed. Enjoy the game!
Form Last Five Matches
Billericay Town: L, W, W, W, D.
Leading Scorer: Jake Robinson, 8 goals.
St. Albans City: D, L, L, W, L.
Leading Scorer: Ralston Gabriel, 4 goals.
Last Line-Ups
Billericay Town ( Away Defeat 2-0 v Chippenham Town)
13 Louis Wells ; 2. Joe Kizzi ; 3. Callum Kennedy (Adam Coombes) ; 4. Rickie Hayles ; 5. Dean Inman ; 6. Sam Deering ; 7. Danny Waldren (Alfie Potter) ; 8. Simon Walton ; 9. Jake Robinson ; 10. Jamie O’Hara ; 14. Adam Cunnington (Jake Howells)
Subs Not Used: 16. Tambeson Eyong ; 1. Alan Julian
St. Albans City (Away Draw 1-1 v Eastbourne Borough)
1 Dean Snedker ; 2. Ben Herd ; 3. Tom Bender ; 4. David Noble ; 5. Richard Sho-Silva ; 6. Harold Joseph ; 7. Ben Wyatt ; 8. Solomon Sambou ; 9. Ralston Gabriel ; 10. David Moyo (’89, Sam Merson) ; 11. Percy Kiangebeni (’89, Zane Banton)
Subs Not Used: 14 Khale da Costa ; 16. Roman Michael-Percil ; 17. James Sage