It wasn’t the victory Ian Allinson hoped it would be but the 1-0 home loss to Bath City did give the St Albans City manager some hope his confidence-shattered players could turn the corner sooner rather than later.
Tom smith's 26th-minute goal proved the difference between the two sides and coupled with Hungerford Town's 2-0 win at Concord Rangers, it condemned Saints to the foot of the National League South.
But after conceding 18 in the previous six games, the home side looked better defensively and had it not been for the crossbar and a string of fine saves from Bath's Ryan Clarke, they may have left Clarence Park with some reward.
Allinson said: "We were a little bit off the pace in the first half and played too deep but the confidence isn't fantastic at the moment because of the position we're in.
"The only way you can grow confidence is by keeping clean sheets, winning games and climbing up the league.
"So in the second half we said we needed to be on the front foot more, to pass the ball a bit more and be a bit more aggressive in what we were doing.
"And we did that and could have quite easily come away with a point at least considering the chances we created in the last 20 minutes.
"We still conceded a poor goal at a poor time but that's the first time in a while I've felt we were still in the game with 20 minutes to go."
The Saints boss had made a number of signings in the week, among them defenders Frankie Musonda and Lewis Knight on loan.
He said: "We defended a lot better than previous games. We've been letting three or four goals in and our goalkeeper has been man of the match.
"We know what we're getting with Lewis, he'll be tight and he'll be organised, and Frankie did a great job for us, he looked really calm and very good on the ball.
"I spoke to three or four people about him and they were all complimentary about him. He's a good acquisition to the squad.
"The defensive side was a lot better but there are still loads of things we need to work on.
"So there is progress but we have to take it forward. Nobody wants to sit at the bottom of the table.
"I saw a lot of positives in the last 20 minutes which is good but we've got to make sure we win games."
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