FOR the second week running St Albans City came from behind to record a vital win to keep their National League South play-off bid on track.

Two second half strikes from Sam Merson were enough to secure a 2-1 win over Braintree Town at Clarence Park on Easter Monday.

The victory looked unlikely at half-time as the Saints went into the break trailing 1-0 to Josh Hill's second minute effort, and Ian Allinson was pleased with the manner in which his team turned the game around.

"It (conceding early) really put us on our heels and even though we had lots of possession we never really hurt them and they were happy to get men behind the ball," the City boss said.

"The longer the game went on, the more we started to dominate and push them back further and further. We got midfield players in different areas and got the ball in the box.

"The fitness came through as the game went on and we finished the game much stronger than they did."

Victory over Braintree leaves City fourth in the table with eight games left to play in the season and they are well on course to secure a play-off spot.

They owed their latest triumph to Merson, who notched his first just before the hour before scoring the winner with five minutes to play.

The forward's form has been up and down this season and he has often scored in bursts before going through dry spells in front of goal.

Allinson believes Merson benefitted from a change in approach from the hosts which allowed them to get on the end of more crosses in the second period.

"Sam is a player who when he is hot he is very hot and when he goes cold we have to move him around and drop him out," he said.

"It was the right decision to play him today even though we didn't get too much out of him in the first half.

"In the second half we put in good balls from different angles and Sam became a pest and was able to cause them problems.

"As soon as we got more balls in from wider areas, Sam was looking to get across his marker and was able to get both goals today."

Victory sees City claim their fourth straight win on the spin and once again saw them take maximum points from a game in which they struggled at points.

Dean Snedker had to be alert to make some smart first half saves before the Saints came into proceedings after the interval.

Allinson says winning against the run of play is indicative of his side's never say die attitude and praised his players' fitness levels.

"The one thing with these boys is they do not give up. I keep talking about how young we are, but they have a fantastic energy about them," he said.

"They are as fit anyone we have worked with in terms of lasting 90 minutes. Every single game we go in to, we believe if we are in the game with 20 minutes to go we have a chance of getting something out of it."

City will look to build on their current run of form when they take on Whitehawk on Saturday.

They will have every confidence of getting the better of their opposition who sit bottom of the table.