St Albans City assistant manager Lee Allinson says it was vital the Clarence Park club bounced back from a poor festive period with a win on Saturday.

City claimed a 2-1 win over Chelmsford City to return to winning ways after picking up a point from back-to-back matches against Hemel Hempstead.

Allinson hailed the win against a Chelmsford side still in the hunt for the title, as a highly important one for the Saints.

“It was really important that we bounced back after Monday’s performance where we felt we were really poor in the second half and went too direct,” Allinson said.

“Today we wanted to move the ball better and I think we did that, so we are delighted with the three points.

“We looked a little nervous coming off the Hemel loss knowing we needed to pick up points and we probably did go a but long early on.

“Once we started passing it and moving the ball, we knew we could pass it around a Chelmsford side which is direct.

“After we got the first goal we really did settle down and started playing the ball around the way we know we can.”

City took the lead in the 17th minute when Kieran Monlouis found the back of the net with a rare goal.

Allinson was pleased to see the midfield man get on the scoresheet and praised his impact.

He did, however, set Monlouis a target of finding the back of the net on a more regular basis.

“Kieran, for me, needs to start scoring more goals. You see in training how many goals he gets and he needs to start bringing that into games,” he said.

“I think you can see how much we need Kieran in the side and if he can start adding goals and scoring double figures in a season, there is no reason he can’t move back into the professional game.”

The Saints commanded the first half and moved into a 2-0 advantage on the cusp of the interval thanks to Layne Eadie, who had been handed a rare start.

Allinson felt the timing of the goal was important and gave City the chance to play with greater freedom.

He was also pleased to see Eadie mark his appearance with a well-taken goal.

“I thought we needed the second goal and we knew what would be coming in the second half ,” he said.

“To be fair to Layne, he showed determination to get there and finished it off beautifully. The second goal took the pressure off in the second half .”

The game was also notable for Harvey Bradbury making his first appearance for the club since joining City on loan from Watford until the end of the season.

The Youngster played the entire match and Allinson was pleased with what he saw from City’s new arrival.

“We remember him from pre-season and he comes on and is very direct, so we took the gamble,” Allinson said of the forward, who is the son of former Manchester City player Lee Bradbury.

“He is only 19 and I have to be honest, he was outstanding today. He had work rate, desire and he chased everything down.

“He is a big presence and he was unlucky not to score towards the end of a great 90 minutes.”