Ian Allinson was left despairing at St Albans City’s second-half performance as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Gloucester City.
Saints looked in fine fettle under the warm spring sunshine at Clarence Park as they raced to a 1-0 lead by the break, with the only disappointment being they failed to convert more of the numerous chances they created.
However, there were further frustrations to come in the second half as a completely different outfit emerged from the dressing rooms and surrendered meekly to the battling Tigers.
That left the City manager in a very bad mood, especially at the manner of the goals conceded.
He said: “They had two good chances in the first half and we spoke about it at length at half-time.
“We knew there was a concern with the way we had defended. We didn’t defend well although we had created plenty of chances at the other end.
“Unfortunately, for all the things we spoke about at half-time, we did not apply ourselves in the second half and we got what we deserved in the end.
“It’s really disappointed how we applied ourselves in the second half. We switched off at a corner and used it as a rest period. We nearly got caught out in the first half but we didn’t learn from that.
“Though we huffed and puffed and put some pressure on from long throws and corners we weren’t good enough to get something out of the game.
“We looked flat in the second half and looked like we just needed to turn up and we’d win the game quite comfortably.
“But they upped their tempo, they closed us down quicker.”
The result was made all the more annoying by results elsewhere going against their National League South play-off rivals.
And it not only undid all the good work from the first half, but also from their recent run.
“I thought we’d got away from this type of performance,” said Allinson, “but it’s taken us back miles. I thought we’d learned how to see games out and do the good things.
“When we play teams in their situation, battling against relegation, we have to take maximum points. Or at the very least we don’t lose.
“We’ve picked up some good results recently but we’ve undone some of the good work we’ve put together.
“That’s the worst we’ve defended in some time.”
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