City confirmed a home-tie in the playoffs after the victory whereas the defeat for the Saints sees them miss out on a playoff position for the 2021/22 season.

The first whistle kicked off a tentative first forty-five minutes with both sides playing intricate football in all areas of the pitch. George Harmon began proceedings with an early chance, the ball fell kindly for the wingback as he struck towards goal with his weaker right foot, but his effort narrowly missed the target.

St Albans responded in quick fashion with two long range efforts. Former Hoop Kyran Wiltshire connected well with a half volley from 30 yards which sailed wide of the mark and Huw Dawson found the target from the edge of the 18-yard line which was calmly collected by Ben Dudzinski.

City broke the deadlock thirteen minutes in with a moment of class. Zac McEachran picked up the ball from within his own half and drove at the heart of the Saints defence towards the box. Under pressure from the Saints' defence, City’s number 10 unleashed a venomous shot underneath the diving Michael Johnson and give the Hoops the lead.

The Saints were slowly gaining momentum after conceding and capitalised whilst in the ascendency through an equaliser from Johnny Goddard. The midfielder found space on the edge of City’s box to swivel on the half turn and plant a curling effort into the top right corner and out of the reach of Dudzinski.

Ewan Clark was causing havoc on the right and seemed to put Alex Lanshear’s legs in a tangle on several occasions and, on the half hour mark, almost regained City’s lead. Cutting in from the right and onto his left he tried his luck and curled an effort cross goal which skimmed the outside of the post.

Five minutes later, the Hoops thought they had taken the lead after Joe Iaciofano lifted the ball over Johnson from close range; however, the linesman quickly raised his flag to deny the forward from adding to his collection.

Halftime: Oxford City 1 – 1 St Albans City

Both sides came out from the interval fighting and battled in the middle of the park until just before the hour mark. National League South's top scorer Shaun Jeffers came close after cutting in from the right and curling an effort towards the far post, but Dudzinski got low quickly to deny the forward.

Goddard thought he had his second five minutes later when a ricocheted ball fell to him in City’s penalty area. His effort into the bottom right corner beat Dudzinski, but not Charlie Rowan whose outstretched leg cleared the ball away from danger.

The Hoops piled on the pressure in the final third and scored twice in a four-minute spell to put the game to bed and deny the Saints a play-off position.

In the 68^th minute, Ashby picked out Harmon on the left for a first-time volley across the corridor of uncertainty onto the foot of Iaciofano, and with the goal gaping, buried the ball into the back of the net.

Ian Allison opted for a triple substitution during the celebrations in attempt to turn the tide but no more than three minutes later, Clark scored his second senior goal for the Hoops. 

While attention turned to Goddard dragging down Iaciofano, Clark pounced upon a loose ball and dribbled along the 18-yard line from the right and planted a reverse shot into the bottom right corner past a bamboozled Johnson.

A standout performance by the Hoops, in front of a four-figure attendance, at the Velocity stadium confirms a home tie advantage for the first round of the playoffs. However, with a potential mathematical chance of getting a bye for the first round, attention turns to a trip to Bath City in the final game of the VNLS season.

Starting XI: Dudzinski, Asare, Harmon, Ashby, Rowan, Fleet ©, Benyon, McEachran (Coyle 86’), Iaciofano (Bancroft 90’), Clark (Owusu 84’), Carroll

Unused Subs: Matsuzaka, DaSilva

Attendance: 1007