St Albans City manager Ian Allinson was happy to settle for a point against East Thurrock, despite insisting his side could have left Rookery Hill with all three.

City came into the match on the back of a four game winning streak in the league but went behind to Sam Higgins’ 68th minute opener.

Sam Merson levelled seven minutes later, but the Saints had to take a share of the spoils as they failed to turn late pressure into a winning goal to the frustration of Allinson.

“I expected a very tough game, which is what we got today. In the end, I am pleased to come away with a draw even though we could quite easily have won,” he said.

“In the last 15 minutes we created a number of chances and I just think our end product let us down today."

With both sides committing to playing an attacking brand of football it was a surprise how long the breakthrough took to materialise.

Allinson was far from pleased with the defending which handed Thurrock the go ahead goal.

The Saints gave up possession in midfield and Higgins was allowed to turn before firing a shot though James Russell in the City goal.

Allinson accepted more could have been done to prevent the goal but did praise his players' reaction to going behind.

"We gave the ball away cheaply in midfield and it got transferred across to the far side," he explained.

"Josh [Hill] has got too tight to Sam Higgins and the minute you do that and he rolls you [you are in trouble].

"We made a substitution and Sam got us back in the game and we created enough chances to win the game."

Merson's introduction had an almost immediate impact as he got on the end of a sweeping break to restore parity.

The result ensures City hold onto second position in the National South League, but they drop nine points behind league leaders Maidenhead United.

Saturday sees them turn their attention to the FA Trophy when they travel to the Enclosed Ground to face Whitehawk.

Allinson, who previously took Boreham Wood to a semi-final in the competition, is anticipating a testing match.

He is eager, however, for his side to continue their strong run of form and says St Albans are approaching the tournament in a serious manner.

"It is going to be a tough, tough game. We know what it is like down there and they have an excellent home record," he said.

"We have got to go there and try and keep our unbeaten record going.

"If we do things right we might pick up a result, whether it's a draw and we bring them back to St Albans or we win."