St Albans Review reporter David Tavener’s 28-year run of covering every St Albans City first-team game came to a frustrating end on Saturday after his van broke down.

Tavener’s hopes of continuing his record of covering more than 1,630 Saints games in a row were scuppered after breaking down on the M4 on the way to the Bideford match.

Tavener, who has been to all of their matches since May 1985, said: “I would have liked to have got to 30 years but it can’t be helped.

“The annoying thing is I left late because there was some doubt over whether the match would take place due to the weather. But if I had left early then I would have been able to get a taxi to take me there in time.”

Tavener ended up missing a rare defeat for the Saints as they were beaten 1-0 at Bideford in their Southern Premier Division clash.

The sides played out a 1-1 draw last week when St Albans were reduced to nine men but the Saints were undone by an early winner on Saturday.

Home debutant Danny Sullivan cut inside before drilling a low strike past Paul Bastock in the 18th minute.

The Saints threw on Jamal Lowe and Mark Nwokeji in the second half as they searched for an equaliser but the visitors found it hard to break down Bideford.

St Albans could not find a goal and fell to only their sixth league defeat of the season.

The club will be holding a fans' forum on Thursday, February 27 at 7.45pm in the Saints Bar. The first half will be dedicated to off the field activities and a general update.

The second half will be for the managers and coaches to report on playing matters and their hopes for the rest of the season. It will be interactive with supporters being given plenty of opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.

The evening is open to all supporters.