Ian Allinson admitted St Albans City “got away with one” as a dramatic late winner snatched all three points for his side in a 3-2 win at home to Bath City.

Johnny Goddard poked home in the 90th minute to the relief of Allinson, just six minutes after Bath striker Cody Cooke failed to convert a penalty.

It was feeling very comfortable for the Saints as they raced into a 2-0 lead early in the first half, with a rampant Mitchell Weiss playing a key role in both goals.

First, he unselfishly squared for Cameron Green to tap in at the far post and then in the 22nd minute his shot bobbled off Bath defender Dan Ball to double City’s lead.

Bath quickly changed system and with three at the back they roared back into the match, with Cooke and then Alex Fletcher bringing the game level just before half-time.

They continued to press for the winner in the second half and looked to have found one when Michael Clark handled in the box.

But Cooke dragged his penalty wide, and City ruthlessly punished the Romans on the counter with a scrappy tap-in at the death.

“You’ve got to give full credit to Bath because they put their foot on our throat today and they probably should have beaten us,” admitted Allinson.

“We’ve got away with one today but it’s nice to get away with one when we haven’t played well.

“But for 35 minutes I thought we were outstanding and unfortunately then we switched off.

“We just got a little bit overconfident on the ball and had too many touches.

"We started to complicate what we were trying to do, we didn’t pass the ball quick enough and we allowed them back into the game.”

Bath’s set-pieces were a threat all afternoon, and their 84th minute penalty came directly from a corner.

There were no complaints about the decision from City’s boss who pointed to the presence of penalty-specialist Michael Johnson between the sticks as a factor in the miss.

“I thought it was a penalty,” he said. “His hands were down by his side, but it hit his hand.

“They know what Michael’s like on saving penalties and hopefully that had something to do with it.”

“If it had gone on goal, I think he would have saved it because he’d gone early on it and the right way as well.”

The win means Saints stay seventh, stretching the gap to eighth to two points.

The result also offers a boost of confidence ahead of tough fixtures in the form of playoff-chasers Eastbourne Borough next Saturday and third-place Oxford City the following Tuesday.

“It’s massive because all the teams above us have all won today, apart from Maidstone,” Allinson said.

“We have to take that forward. We’ve got 14 games to go, it’s going to be 14 opportunities to pick up as many points as we can.”