Second half goals by Louie Theophanous and substitute Dipo Akinyemi saw St Albans City through to the Third Round Qualifying of the FA Cup after a Michael Sommerfield header had threatened to cause an upset for Isthmian League Division One North side Dereham Town at Norwich Road on Saturday.

Dereham led for nine minutes during a dank and uninviting afternoon in Norfolk and St Albans had to dig deep to avoid suffering a premature and embarrassing exit, but even during that short passage of time, victory for Mark Henman’s seemed more a wish than likelihood.

St Albans, standing two Divisions higher than their hosts, dominated possession right from the off but their play lacked the intensity of recent National League South matches, and by playing at a slower tempo than of late they struggled to make clear chances against the Magpies.

City made two changes from the side that drew with Hemel Hempstead in midweek with George Casey and the suspended Junior Morias making way for David Noble and Sam Merson.

For Merson this was an opportunity to really stake a claim for a run in the starting XI but, unfortunately, the 21-year-old struggled to make the anticipated impact.

Dereham, after finishing ninth in the table last season, have made a slow start to the current campaign and, following Saturday’s results, sit in 19th place having scored just six times in seven outings.

A favourable result against Ian Allinson’s side could, however, have provided the spark to kick-start their campaign. But seldom did it look like coming to fruition.

It can hardly be said that Dereham, although short of possession, were merely hanging on for they did a superb job in limiting the clear opportunities to come the Saints way.

An early long shot by Tom Bender, that went wide, suggested that City wanted to settle the tie early but it was not until close on half time that Magpies ‘keeper Will Viner, a veteran of three games for St Albans in the autumn of 2011, was forced to make his first save.

The closest that Dereham came to scoring prior to the interval was a header a couple of yards wide by Jake Anema following a Tom Walters free kick.

Dereham were determined to make life as difficult as possible for the Saints and a deep-lying midfield gave added defensive strength to a backline that has kept just one clean sheet in the league so far this season.

It was a strategy that worked well although the woodwork came to the Magpies rescue when a typically patient St Albans attack burst into life when Shaun Lucien cut inside from the left wing and sent in a crisp strike that clipped an upright after taking a deflection.

One of City’s more incisive moves saw Scott Thomas slide the ball down the left to Lee Chappell whose low cross evaded several players before finding Louie Theophanous only for his first-time shot to be blocked Dereham skipper Dan Morphew.

Just a minute before the interval and Dereham so nearly got the break that they had been holding out for when Dion Frary’s first time pass sent Ryan Crisp away.

City goalkeeper James Russell dashed from his line and stuck out a leg that invited Crisp to take a tumble. Referee Alan Young was not impressed and booked Young for diving.

St Albans’ players close to the incident said that there had been no contact but Allinson confessed that he thought it should have been a penalty.

A few choice words from the City manager at half time seemed to have the desired effect and during the early exchanges after the interval St Albans posed a greater attacking threat.

An excellent run by Noble through a crowded penalty sliced Dereham open but Viner got down well to use his legs to keep the Saints out.

Dereham demonstrated that they were not completely without firepower when Adam Smith set off on a promising run that came to nothing but it did provide the spark for the Magpies best spell of the game.

Two minutes later Crisp won a corner that was played short to Smith and from his ball to the edge of the six yard box Jay Eastoe-Smith tried a clever back-heel that Noble and Russell just managed to block on the goal-line, and when the ball was only partially cleared Frary drove in an excellent shot that saw Russell leap spectacularly to his left to keep out.

But this was undoubtedly Dereham’s moment and from the ensuing corner, hit deep from the right wing by Walters on 58 minutes, Sommerfield pounced at the back post to head between Thomas and Russell to open the scoring.

St Albans quickly regained their composure and now stretched Dereham with good attacks down both wings that led to a number of threatening crosses.

From one such move on 67 minutes City shattered the Dereham dream.

Building patiently from the back Chappell injected energy into the move and, after exchanging passes with Matt Ball, clipped a perfect left-footed cross into the centre of the six-yard box where Theophanous stretched to put away his tenth goal of the season and ninth in seven games.

It was now very much backs to the wall time for Dereham and the pressure City applied, particularly down the wings, looked likely to reap full reward at any time.

Chappell was in his element down the left with his long throws and crosses causing mayhem in front of the home goal.

Josh Hill went close with a header from a Chappell throw, and a cross by the City captain was scooped over the bar by Theophanous before another cross was punched away by Viner but only as far as Matt Ball whose shot just cleared the crossbar.

Dereham were just ten minutes away – including five minutes of added time - from taking the tie back to Clarence Park when ill fortune struck and City were handed a gift that Akinyemi accepted with aplomb.

Lucien won the ball midway inside the City half and laid it back to Ben Herd who lifted a long pass down the right flank.

Morphew appeared to have the dropping ball covered only to lose his footing and then suffer more bad luck when the ball hit him and bounced into Akinyemi who now headed for goal.

Sommerfield moved across to block the City striker but Akinyemi swept across him with ease before planting a left-footed shot low to the outstretched Viner’s left to secure the Saints £4,500 share of the prize fund.

There was still more drama to come as City substitute Rhys Hoenes had two penalty appeals rejected.

The first saw him booked for diving after going wide of a disgruntled Eastoe-Smith, while the second saw him stumble to the ground a couple of paces after claiming to have been clipped by the hand of the sprawling Viner.

The attendance of 243 is the highest seen at Aldiss Park so far this season.

The draw for the Third Round Qualifying takes place on Monday lunchtime with the ties played on Saturday 1st October.

St Albans are without a midweek fixture this week but are back in National League South action next Saturday, 24th September, when they travel to big spending Ebbsfleet United. Kick off at Stonebridge Road is at 3pm.

Dereham Town: W.Viner, J.Anema, D.Morphew, R.Lindford, M.Sommerfield, J.Eastoe-Smith, C.Bussens (C.Green 81), A.Smith, R.Crisp, D.Frary (D.Radomski 59), T.Walters (W.Salisbury-Logan 71), subs not used; H.Black, L.Clayton, M.Cook.

Booked: Crisp.

St Albans City: J.Russell, B.Herd, T.Bender, L.Chappell, J.Hill, D.Locke (M.Ball 65), S.Lucien, Sc.Thomas, L.Theophanous, S.Merson (D.Akinyemi 70), D.Noble (R.Hoenes 74), subs not used: L.Allinson, A.Iwediuno, G.Casey.

Booked: Chappell, Hoenes.

Goals: 58 1-0 Sommerfield, 67 1-1 Theophanous, 85 1-2 Akinyemi.

Referee: Alan Young (Ely).

Att: 243.