Ian Allinson hailed his St Albans City side after a superb second-half performance rescued a draw at Weymouth.
City went a goal down in the first half of the FA Trophy tie after a hugely-disappointing first-half at the Wessex Stadium.
But with things looking bleak, Saints produced a remarkable turnaround, which the boss called “one of our best performances of the season.”
Allinson said: “I felt first-half we showed them too much respect with the way we defended, even though they never really opened us up too much.
“They had a lot of possession, a lot of passing and a lot of movement but we seemed quite comfortable.
“They never got behind us too much.
“But I didn’t feel we pressed the game enough and that’s what we spoke about at half-time, to get on the front foot and play a little further forward.
“And that’s what we did.
“We got the goal nice and early which helped but we had enough chances to go on and win the game.
“And though I’m immensely proud of what we did in the second half, I am disappointed we haven’t put the tie to bed already.”
Solomon Sambou’s goal had brought them level two minutes after the restart and the visitors could have had a second as they peppered the home goal.
And Allinson thought the turnaround was so good that they could, and probably should have won it.
He said: “I thought our shape was good and the only time we let them in was when we made a mistake.
“We were driving forward and trying to win the game, which is a great positive for us, but we could have also given it away in those last 15 minutes by overplaying in certain areas.
“But to come away to a side that have only lost two games all season and are not used to having a game taken away from them, I thought we were outstanding.
“It’s just having a little bit of confidence on the ball.
“Like I said to them, if you’re going to make a mistake, make a mistake by being positive.
“First half we were a little bit anxious on the ball but sometimes when you haven’t won for three or four games you start putting yourself under pressure.
“I’m really pleased with how the boys have responded to the last few weeks and at half-time we could have quite easily thrown in the towel.”
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