St Albans City 2 Redditch United 0.

The Graham Hyde era got off to the worst possible start for Redditch United after a flat display saw the Reds leave Clarence Park empty handed.

There were several changes to United's line up after the departure of no less than eight players in the last week, but they didn't have the desired effect- behind after only 40 seconds the Reds had just one tame shot on target all afternoon during a forgettable encounter.

Inside the first minute, United cleared their lines from a free kick, but the ball fell kindly for Danny Hart who fired low into the bottom corner of the net from 20 yards.

There were little in the way of clearcut opportunities before the break, but City substitute Sakho Bakare may have done better on 34 minutes, sending a powerful driven shot into the side netting.

Bakare saw a loping header bounce onto the top of the crossbar on 59 minutes with United still offering little in the final third, but City's striker soon had a hand in the home side's second goal, his low driven cross was rifled home by Jerome Walker at the far post.

Both Bakare and Walker went close to a third before United's only effort on target came on 89 minutes, substitute Lee Osborne forcing a smart low stop from Andrew Viner.

But it was too little too late for a poor Reds side who find themselves just three points off the relegation places in the early Evostik Southern Premier standings.

REDS: Coleman 6, Bullimore 5, Hickman 6, Robinson 6, Milligan 6, Jones 5, Heath 5, Warmer 6, Moses-Garvey 7, Blenkinsopp 5(McKenzie 58, 6), Harris 6 (Osborne 69, 6).

Subs: Ager, Wood, Bedford.