Steve Castle fielded his strongest available St Albans City side on Tuesday then looked on as the Saints struggled to clinch a 2-1 Capital League Central Division victory over Enfield Town Reserves at Goldsdown Road.

City secured victory with an excellent goal by substitute Henry Atu who controlled Craig Mortimer’s cross on his chest before firing the 80th minute winner past Enfield keeper Jason Holmes.

St Albans had looked on course for a resounding victory when Solomon Shields drove the ball past Holmes inside four minutes following Luke Thurlbourne’s low pass from the right wing.

But in between those goals the Saints again looked short of firepower in attack. Gary Cohen was the only specialised striker on show for City until Atu came off the bench, something that made it difficult for him to strike up a meaningful partnership.

With David Galbraith ruled out due to a knee Castle opted for Cohen as his central striker with Jonathan O’Donnell wide on the left and Alex Bailey on the opposite flank. O’Donnell had his first full 90 minutes with the First team and did enough to suggest that the midfield would be more productive close to goal with his inclusion.

The closest Cohen came to scoring was right on half time when he turned swiftly inside the penalty area only to see his shot lodge between the keeper’s legs.

James Fisher, returning from suspension, went close on four occasions during the opening 45 minutes while at the opposite end a superb goalline tackle by Shields denied the lively Billy Healey a certain goal.

Goldsdown Road holds bad memories for the Saints as it was the scene of a cup upset in 1991 when Brimsdown Rovers removed John Mitchell’s City side from the FA Cup. Going back there just four days after St Albans were victims of another shock result in the FA Cup was not quite what the doctor ordered.

And things began to look bad for City again when, on 54 minutes, James Quilter had to helped from the pitch after twisting an ankle on one of several potholes. An ice pack was swiftly applied to the damaged foot and he is confident of being available for Saturday’s trip to Weston-super-Mare.

An excellent save by Holmes, diving low to his left to beat out a good header by Atu from a Luke Thurlbourne cross, kept the home side in the match and a minute later, the 63rd, Enfield were back on level terms when Shane Johnson lifted the ball over City keeper Danny Margott from 25 yards.

For a while Town looked capable of snatching all three points but the nearest they came was a shot just wide by the abrasive Andy Jones.

City clinched the win with Atu’s late strike just moments after an Adam Everitt header had been cleared off the line.

Central defender Justin Clayton, who has joined the Saints on a dual registration deal with Southend United, was given his first run out alongside Ryan Frater.

Castle confirmed that Jamie Thurlbourne has rejoined one of his former clubs, Mildenhall Town.

Enfield Town: J.Holmes, D.Basman (L.Baldwin 83), A.Kirby, R.Warren (T.Riley 67), M.Matthews, S.Johnson, A.Jones, J.Lockie, A.Stockman (K.Sauboorah 46), B.Healey, R.Minniti.

St Albans City: D.Margott, J.Quilter (C.Mortimer 54), A.Everitt, L.Thurlbourne, J.Clayton, R.Frater, S.Shields (H.Atu 60), J.Fisher, G.Cohen, J.O’Donnell, A.Bailey, sub, R.Maxwell.

Referee: David Axcell.