St Albans 0 Gravesend & N 3

ANDY Ford's side remain eight points behind Canvey Island in the race to win the Ryman League, Premier Division, but only after leaving it late in a 3-0 victory at St Albans on Saturday.

Gravesend needed to wait until the 70th minute when Jimmy Jackson broke the deadlock from close-range before further goals from Craig Wilkins and Jackson ensured the three points went to the Thames-side club.

Ford admitted: "It took a while for us to undo them but we needed to show a lot of patience. If we'd have scored in the first half it might have helped relax us earlier.

"At times I felt we could have done with a bit more width but we changed it around and moved a few players into different positions and it eventually worked with Jimmy's first goal.

The Fleet put their 14-game unbeaten league sequence, which stretches back to October 9, to the test tomorrow (Tuesday) night when they play hosts to Maidenhead United.