James Gray admitted after Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Bedford Town that he was dejected having seen his team throw away two points.

Bedford’s Andrew Phillips gave his side an early lead but St Albans City responded immediately through Ben Martin and went on to take the lead; Elliot Bailey providing a neat headed finish from a James Comley corner.

It seemed as though City were poised to win the game but a sloppy second half, in which Saints’ players’ first touch went astray, they struggled to string passes together and failed to test Dan Brown in the Bedford goal, saw Phillips peg them back from the spot and earn a point for his side.

After the game, City’s joint manager said: “I feel dejected – how many times have I said that this season?

“A draw was probably a fair result but the manor of the draw felt like a defeat. If we’d have applied ourselves in the second half we could have weathered the storm and seen the game out.

“We gave ourselves a bad start and they got a goal in front but we showed great character to get two goals. I thought we’d take off from there and win the game comfortably or at least see it out.”

He added: “Tonight was a massive opportunity to get three points but we can’t seem to get two, three or four performances on the trot; we need to be a lot brighter and a lot sharper.”