ST Albans City were unable to get the better of Dulwich Hamlet as they lost 1-0 on the road in their National League South meeting on Saturday.

The only goal of the game came with 27 minutes on the clock when Nyren Clunis found the net.

Despite, City’s best efforts to battle back from going behind eventually proved fruitless as they failed to cause their hosts enough problems to earn a share of the spoils.

The Hamlet winner came from a well-worked move as Clunis played the ball into a team mate on the edge of the box and had possession returned to him with a clever flick around the corner.

Clunis then carried the ball forward and fired across goal to find the bottom corner from 18 yards.

St Albans boss Ian Allinson was critical of his side’s failure to create clear openings in the game and felt his side lacked the final product required to prosper.

“We weren’t far off it today but haven’t created the chances. The one thing we should have done today is come away with a 0-0,” Allinson said.

“What has let us down in the end is we haven’t been good enough in the final third.

“Some of the final balls were not good enough. We were chipping crosses in to the box or smashing them out of play.”

While the failure to take anything from a game against a Dulwich side sitting in the bottom half of the table is a let down, Allinson was keen to stress the importance of keeping a loss in perspective.

The City boss believes their is little to choose between many of the teams in the National League table and expects plenty to change between now and the end of the season.

“It is disappointing,” he said. “We expected this to be a tough game and were under no illusions about where Dulwich are in terms of performances.

“They are four points behind us now in the league and are still 16th. We know how tough the league is going to be.

“There will be ups and downs and if we are not as good as we can be we will suffer defeats like we did today.”

St Albans remain on course for a play-off place finish this season and sit fifth in the table with 15 games played so far this season.

As Allinson said, the National League South table is congested and just three points separate the Saints from local rivals Hemel Hempstead Town who sit 13th.

The Clarence Park club will look to make a return to winning ways when they host Chippenham Town on Saturday.

Town are in the hunt for a play-off spot and are a point adrift of the top seven.

City follow that game with an away day against Torquay United on Tuesday.