St Albans City manager David Howell could not hide his disappointment after the Saints threw away a two-goal lead against ten men Barwell.

City were looking in control of the match at Clarence Park after taking a 4-2 lead, with the visitors seeing Jack Edwards dismissed, but they somehow managed to squander their lead and had to settle for an eventful 4-4 draw.

Howell said: "The lads know what needs to be done. They're a bit shellshocked and I've just got to make sure that now that's happened to us we get the right reaction. This is the most disappointed I've felt for the team and for myself as manager for being 4-2 up.

"I thought we'd have a bit more about us and be professional. The worst scenario would have been to see the game out at 4-2 but it just became an open game and we tried to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

"I would just like us to be a bit more confident about what we're doing on the park and need the experienced players to lead the youngsters. During that spell when it was 4-2 I would have liked the experienced players to close the game out."

The Saints conceded the opener when Danny Gordon diverted the ball past his own goalkeeper but defender Moussa Diarra lashed in the equaliser. Diarra headed in his second before the break but this was cancelled out by Scott Hadland.

Edwards was sent off after conceding a penalty which Micah Hyde converted but keeper Liam Castle denied the former Watford midfielder from the spot just a minute later. The Saints extended their advantage 20 minutes from time when Diarra completed his hat-trick.

But it all turned sour for the hosts as Luke Barlone netted before a 90th minute goal from Guy Hadland rescued an unlikely point for Barwell.

Howell said: "If we were doing it to try and encourage people to come to Clarence Park for Non League Day then maybe we've done our jobs from an entertainment perspective but not from a football perspective.

"I think we were a little bit slow starting the game and we gave Barwell the lead.

"I think where we've struggled is being professional and being able to know when to increase the tempo of a match or when to slow it down. The lads are just too brutally honest and they just react good or react bad. That's why I tried to get in the experienced players to try and nullify that and make us be consistent with everything we do.

"When the chips were down and we were down to ten men against Chesham the lads rallied and played some good football. Chesham suffered from the thought they had an extra man and don't have to work as hard.

"We learned that lesson here because with the extra man just going 4-2 up with the extra man Barwell were there for the taking. Instead when they were down, out and beaten we allowed them back in and suddenly they got a sniff and felt they could get something out of it. We didn't know how to react. In the end it was the blind leading the blind and that was difficult to take."

The Saints return to action tommorow night in the Red Insure Cup at home to Hemel Hempstead Town.