Trialists continue to come and go for St Albans City but it was an exemplary display by one of the old boys, 21-year-old Solomon Shields, that caught the eye as the Saints chalked up a 2-0 win over Royston Town at Garden Walk on Tuesday.

The match may have been decided by two goals from former Harrow Borough midfielder Danny Hart but it was the performance of Shields, showing much of his old form from before the Achilles tendon injury he sustained in February 2010, that will most please City supporters.

Also satisfying from the St Albans perspective was the passing football that the unfamiliar City side attempted to play throughout on an excellent surface in North Herts.

City were led by Reece Yorke a former Southgate College student who was on the books of Barnet and has played for England schoolboys at U18 level. A strong commanding figure he imposed himself on the game well.

St Albans took just three minutes to open the scoring when Frenchman Sakho Bakare’s shot was blocked by the legs of home keeper Jordan Gibson with Hart slotting the rebound home.

The Crows hit back strongly during the early stages and had several decent attempts on the City goal but three times poor finishing by Matt Standon let the visitors off the hook.

City could well have gained an early second goal through Lawrence Yaku but the experienced striker, recently released by Boreham Wood, scuffed a clear chance in front of goal following a cross by Bakare.

After surviving Royston’s bright start City came through the rest of the game relatively unscathed but manager Dave Howell must have had palpitations when Kwami Fordah, the fifth keeper given a run out this summer, fumbled a firm cross from the Town right that then had to be scrambled away from the goalline.

On 61 minutes what was possibly the best and certainly most incisive move of the evening ended with Hart having a low shot blocked by home keeper Jordan Gibson. Marvin Alebiosu collected the rebound and won a free kick on the edge of the penalty area.

The home wall left an enticing gap just inside Jordan’s left hand upright and Hart took full advantage to plant a low curling effort with the instep of his right foot into the corner of the net for the second City goal.

Clear chances thinned out as the match wore on although Fordah redeemed himself with a clean catch high to his left following a fine effort from some 30 yards by Tom Mullins after Ross Dedman had headed clear from a Royston corner.

Following the game Howell confirmed that City were close to securing a deal with Farnborough regarding Inih Effiong only for the move to be thrown into doubt by the intervention of Boreham Wood who are believed to have played the striker in a couple of friendlies despite the player still being registered at Clarence Park.

St Albans City: K.Fordah, K.Frempong (A.Chaves 67), R.Dedman, S.Shields, E.Braithwaite, R.Yorke (S.Lyon 62), J.Ehui (Mohammed 62), M.Alebiosu (R.Magwood 62), L.Yaku (V.Asabang 52), S.Bakare (A.Fry 62), D.Hart (J.Walker 67).

Referee: Carl Henry.