It was a devastating evening for St Albans City FC, who on Monday 6th December, crashed out of the FA Cup in emphatic fashion, losing 4-0 to local rivals Borehamwood FC.

Over 1,200 Saints fans travelled the few miles to pack the sold-out away end, hoping to see yet another smash-and-grab operation by their team, much like their fairy-tale first round win against Forest Green Rovers. However, on paper this game was supposedly more competitive: with Forest Green being top of the league which Borehamwood were hoping to be promoted to. Consequently, St Albans fans were optimistic. If they could beat League 2 leaders Forest Green, surely, they could beat National League second placed Borehamwood?

However, it soon became apparent that this would not be the case, and despite a roaring away end, Borehamwood were able to capitalize off a mistake by Saints centre-half Callum Adebiyi, whose miskick presented a chance to Borehamwood midfielder Josh Rees, who converted from point-blank range after 25 minutes. St Albans fought back however, with David Diedhou’s header hitting the crossbar before half time yet were unable to make it count.

The second half began in the same fashion as the first half: domination by Borehamwood. Just four minutes in, Rees added to his tally as his looping header from Kane Smith’s cross beat St Albans keeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke. The rest of the half followed this narrative, with St Albans enjoying little success throughout the second half, squandering their every chance. Any hope of a magical comeback was anti-climactically quelled by a header from Gus Mafuta, who finished off an impressive sequence of play by the home side in the 64th minute. To add insult to injury and pile on the misery onto St Albans, Borehamwood added a fourth goal to their tally after yet another defensive error from the Saints’ back line. Substitute Adrian Clifton coolly slotted home into an essentially open goal in the 81st minute.

This was not the way St Albans fans envisioned their side going out of the FA Cup. However inevitable it was going to be, a resounding defeat to local rivals was nonetheless disappointing. In addition, tension boiled over at the end of the game as Borehamwood fans raced over the barriers, charging towards the St Albans fans to gloat their win in rowdy fashion, which were parried explicitly by the enraged St Albans fans. For both teams this was not a good look.

This was the final chapter in an FA Cup campaign to remember for St Albans, and for many a newfound interest and support for their local side had been cultivated. For Borehamwood: they continue forward into the third round, where they will host League 1 side Wimbledon in the new year.