St Albans City boss Ian Allinson was disappointed to see his side’s seven-match unbeaten streak come to an end after a 2-0 defeat at Hemel Hempstead Town on New Year’s Day.

Herts Advertiser: Action from St Albans match at Hemel Hempstead (pic Robert Walkley)Action from St Albans match at Hemel Hempstead (pic Robert Walkley) (Image: Archant)

David Moyo netted in each half to seal the points for the hosts and extend their own long unbeaten run and leave Allinson frustrated.

He said: “The first five minutes they had a couple of half chances but then I felt we totally dominated the game and just got naïve.

“It’s frustrating because for 25 minutes we were outstanding. We took the game to them, had three or four really good chances, were really on top and through a little bit of naivety, it’s cost us.

“We’ve gone 1-0 down and it became a really scrappy game. In the second half they disrupted everything, time wasted, the referee didn’t move it along very quickly. A couple of naughty challenges went in which I felt the referee should have been a little bit stronger with, and it disrupted the game and they got a second goal with us chasing it.”

Rhys Murrell-Williamson hit a post for Saints, while Zane Banton was denied by a save from the home keeper and Sam Merson was also just off-target.

But Allinson felt his side’s second-half display was not up to their usual standards and Moyo made sure of the points seven minutes from time.

He added: “I felt we were not at the races in terms of the quality we’ve shown this season. The effort and commitment was there but some of the quality let us down. We got a bit frustrated and wrapped up in the game and what was going on with the stop-start and it totally took away momentum we had.

“When we got in good areas we overhit it or never missed the first man and that let us down.

“We never really got hold of the ball in the second half, we never really passed the ball like we did in the first half. We ended up starting to go long and never got any quality going forward.

“I think if we had got in front we would’ve gone on and won the game. Football is all about fine margins and fine decisions. We had Zane Banton sent off on Boxing Day for a challenge that was less than the challenge on Shaquille (Hippolyte-Patrick) in the second half.

“You have to have a little bit of luck and consistency. I felt it was our own fault today, we were naïve when we were on top at 0-0 and allowed things to happen.”