St Albans City saw their National League South play-off hopes come to an end as they lost 2-1 in a dramatic final day clash with Bath City.

In a game which saw three penalties awarded,City came up just short after starting the match knowing they needed a win to give themselves any chance of a top seven spot.

Dean Snedker saved a Matt Richards spot-kick before Bath went ahead through Tom Smith’s superb effort from distance.

Zane Banton struck ahead of half-time to make it all square at the interval and keep the Saints’ play-off ambitions alive.

However, with 13 minutes to play, Jamie Sendles-White brought down Andy Watkins in the box and Richards made amends for his earlier miss to restore the Bath lead.

Ian Allinson’s side searched for a route back into the game and were gifted the chance of a leveller when a Bath man handled in the box.

Top scorer Sam Merson stepped up, but saw a tame effort easily saved by Bath keeper Luke Shortwood.

The defeat left City eighth in the table as the season reached its climax after spending much of the campaign in the top seven.

A poor run-in has seen the Saints win just one of their final six games of the campaign, a sequence of results which Allinson ultimately accepted was not good enough for a play-off chasing side.

“The way the collapse has happened in the last six games has been poor. One more win from those games and we probably would have got in the play-offs,” he said.

“That is really disappointing and I will have to think long and hard about what has gone wrong.

“We made some really poor decisions in terms of the goals we have given away and we didn’t look like we were sharp enough in those games.”

While disappointment was the overall emotion for Allinson and his players, the City boss still feels his side have developed this year.

He claimed the Clarence Park club’s league finish was a better return on what could have been expected at the start of the season, but nonetheless felt shortchanged by their failure to reach the play-offs.

“Ath the beginning of the season I felt we had a very young squad and we have probably overachieved by finishing eighth,” he said.

“Where we were with six games to go, though, we have underachieved. Based on where we finished last year, everything has improved.”

Football never stands still and St Albans must now look to lift themselves in time for a close season which promises to be a busy one for both incomings and outgoings.

Allison says the club will be proactive in their approach over the summer months and will look to add knowhow to their ranks.

“We have a hell of a lot to learn and trying to bring some experience in to go with the young lads is going to be the next test for us,” the former Arsenal player said of his plans for next season.

“We need to see where we are in terms of what the budget is going to be and which players want to stay and who is available to bring in as well.”