St Albans City's National League South play-of hopes took another blow on Saturday as they went down to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Havant & Waterlooville.

Jamie Sendles-White opened the scoring as early as the ninth minute to put the Saints ahead but it was all down hill from then on.

Despite their flying start, City found themselves behind at the half-time break as goals from Wes Fogden and Jason Prior put Havant ahead.

The Saints looked to muster a response, but failed to do so as they went down to a defeat which sees them drop to seventh and reduced their cushion on the chasing pack to two points.

The defeat was not without its controversy and Ian Allinson was left to question to referee after he decided to ignore the instruction of his linesman and failed to award City a penalty.

A long throw saw Tom Bender compete for possession with Havant Stopper Ryan Young and go down with a bloodied face.

After the linesman had waved for a penalty, the referee overturned his call, much to the irritation of Allinson.

"I think the biggest moment of the game is the decision of the referee to overrule his linesman in not giving a penalty and sending off their goalkeeper," Allinson said.

"That was a massive decision and changed the game. Tom Bender's face is bleeding and he has blood on his shirt. The referee is totally wrong.

"I can't see how the referee can overrule the linesman and it is silly having one if you are not going to listen to what they say."

While the majority of Allinson's ire was spared for the officiating, he was still less than pleased with some slack defending which allowed title-chasing Havant back into the game.

The hosts second goal was a particular irritant for the Saints boss and he believed his side failed to make the most of their spells of dominance.

"I feel like when we got in front we were starting to dictate the play before we gave away a silly goal in terms of allowing the cross to come in," he said.

"I felt it was still quite even and we were starting to cause problems when they hit us on the counter attack.

"The second goal was a fantastic finish. I question how we have allowed him so much space, but the turn and finish were outstanding.

"In the second half we got a little tighter and played further up the pitch. The second half was a lot closer between the two teams."

At the time of going to press, St Albans were preparing to take on Gloucester City on the road and were looking to make a timely return to winning ways.

Their loss on Saturday made it two defeats on the spin and left their play-off chase, which looked so secure for so long, in the balance.

Gloucester are 15th and a run of one win in five games should provide the Saints with confidence heading into the match.

They follow the midweek assignment with a meeting against Hampton & Richmond at Clarence Park on Saturday.

With Hampton sitting fourth in the table, the game could be pivotal in shaping the remainder of City's season as they push for a play-off berth between now and the end of the campaign.