Allinson left frustrated despite late equaliser for St Albans City against Truro

A last-gasp point was gratefully received by St Albans City manager Ian Allinson but he was still a frustrated figure after a disjointed and disrupted clash with Truro City.

David Diedhiou’s goal at the end of the fourth added minute at Clarence Park meant the contest finished 2-2 but what had gone before it was not a thriller by any stretch.

And he felt the stop-start nature of the game, not helped by an over-officious referee, had hindered his side.

He said: “We got very frustrated with the way the game was panning out. There were lots of disruptions, lots of breaks in play with the physio coming on and when we did have a chance to break against them, there’d be a head injury.

“You have to say well done to them because they did what they had to do to try and win the game but it got frustrating from our side.

“There was no continuity, no flow to the game so I was really pleased we managed to score [at the end].

“But we had five or six forwards on at the end and you can’t do that in this league because you will get punished.

“And we have to defend better than we did.”

The first goal conceded came from a debated penalty two minutes into the second half, and Saints also had a goal themselves chalked off right on the stroke of half-time for an apparent push.

Both decisions added to the manager’s exasperation although the second Truro goal, scored when the defence stopped while waiting for an offside flag, was something they could have prevented.

He said: “We were unlucky with the penalty and then we scored a perfectly good goal. I’ve just looked at it on the video and there was no foul but the referee deemed there was a push on someone.

“They had to go with runners [for the second goal] and we didn’t do that.

“I don’t know if it was offside but it’s just disappointing that we gave a goal away so soon after getting back to 1-1.”

The game had started with all eyes on Saints’ new striker, the former Harpenden Town hotshot James Ewington, who was handed a start three days after signing with the club.

And Allinson was pleased with what he saw.

“It was good,” said the boss. “He’s worked very hard.

“We have to get used to how he plays, to know his strengths and weaknesses, and he’s obviously got to get used to how we play.

“It’s just a shame it’s at this stage of the season. If it was at the beginning of the season it would be fantastic because you’ve got pre-season.

“But we have to move the ball and pass the ball better with him in the side.

“We went a little too long, we got carried away with getting the ball forward a little too quickly.

“But they are areas we can work on and we’ll put it right in training this week.”