Ian Allinson admitted he would have taken a point after a sluggish St Albans City performance against Chippenham Town so was obviously very pleased to have walked away with three.
It was a game that had 0-0 written all over it until Kieran Monlouis burst into the box in the first minute of added time and was fouled.
Zane Banton stuck away the penalty and there was still time for Rhys Murrell-Williamson to add a second and hand City a victory that could go a long way in their push for promotion.
And it was for that reason, coupled with the below-par display, that the Saints manager was relieved at the end.
He said: “To be fair I’d have probably walked away with a draw because you’re not going to be able to play well every week.
“When you have poor performances you have to pick something up and 0-0 would have been a fair result.
“But that last couple of minutes we managed to drive at them, got a bit of luck, and managed to pick up three.
“There have been plenty of times this season when we’ve played well but got beat so it was nice to not play so well and get something.”
Allinson was at a loss to explain his side’s lethargy but said credit had to go to the visitors.
“We can’t come out and play like we did against Dartford and East Thurrock every week because teams show you respect after that,” he said.
“Chippenham worked really hard at nullifying the space we use but when we did have we were too slow.
“Our passing wasn’t sharp and we were too cumbersome in our possession.
“We didn’t pass forward quick enough, it was all side to side and it was all too deliberate.
“And that gave them the opportunity to get behind the ball and when they did that they never left any space for us.
“But when we did get into good areas our delivery was poor.
“For some reason we never really came out of the traps, from the first whistle.”
“We never got going for the whole game. We switched players, we switched formation, anything to get us back in it.
“It was about trying to get a reaction and probably the one time Kieran has got a bit of space to run at people, he’s got into the box and won a penalty.”
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