James Comley drew praise from his manager after impressing in his first game as St Albans City captain since retaking the armband.

Despite the drab 1-0 loss to Bromley on a dreadful pitch at the Fortress Stadium, Comley, who was captaining the Saints for the 44th time, was his usual relentless self, covering every blade of grass and leading his side by example. And he nearly got the goal his performance deserved after chasing down Bromley goalkeeper Seb Brown and blocking his clearance but the ball bounced off the bar.

“He was man of the match by a long way. He got everywhere. He wasn’t just our man of the match, he was the best player on the pitch,” said joint manager James Gray after the game.

“Coms is going to be a big player for us. He led by example, got around the pitch, worked his socks off and he was unfortunate that he didn’t get the goal at the end.

“We just didn’t have the killer punch that could have got us three points. We were good value for a point, unfortunately we didn’t get it.”