St Albans City come to Aggborough hoping for a gentle breaking in but we'll be hoping for a massacre. They gained promotion from the Conference South to the Conference National last season when they beat Histon 2-0 to come up with the League Champions Weymouth.
This will be their first visit to Aggborough but we have played them before, just the once, when we met up for a FA Trophy tie at Clarence Park back in January 1995 when we won 3-2 with our goals coming from John Purdie 2, and Paul Webb. That was the year of our last visit to Wembley when we lost to Woking in the final.
With the new season it's a chance to get a proper look at a host of new faces and try to make out who is who. We have had the friendlies to aid recognition but this is the time to see these new players playing for their lives and not in the reserved atmosphere of unimportant games.
The latest new player, Gavin Cowan, signed yesterday and will be hoping to make the squad but I don't think we'll see him starting the game and Mark Yates will probably go with the side that played against Worcester City last Saturday.
St Albans are an unknown quantity to us but they do have one player that we have met up with before. Most Harriers fans will remember Paul Bastock from his time at Boston Utd where he spent twelve years between the sticks.
They'll be hoping to get their season off to a good start but I don't think the points will be leaving Aggborough.
Teams:
Harriers from:
Bevan, Taylor, Harkness, Kenna, Haworth, Creighton, Cowan, Whitehead, Lee, McGrath, Sedgemore, Hurren, Russell, Penn, Reynolds, Blackwood, Eaton, McClen, Smikle, Sturridge, White.
St Albans from:
Bastock, Perks, Clarke, Cousins, Cracknell, Davis, Elphick, Flynn, Hakim, Hann, Harper, Lewis, Ben Martin, Simon Martin, Marwa, Norris, Roddis, Seeby, Sozzo, Theobald, Wilde.
Links to St Albans websites 
