That’s football, folks. At times at Woodside Road, as the purple and cream shapes swarmed and surged, everyone in tune, as the noise swirled and bounced from stand to stand, this felt like it would be one of those special Worthing occasions, a lavender-ish spectacle for a crucial cause. Until the final kick of the game spoils it all and Worthing are left rueing those missed chances as two points firmly slip from their palms.

’Tis the season of the long shadows. The golden sun slanting in as the first peep of the referee’s whistle sounded, we’re now firmly into that festive football territory, and St Albans City, a side who continue to slide down the table, were able to rescue a point in the most unlikely of circumstances.

It ended 1-1, but it could have been such a different afternoon. By the full-time whistle, those that had journeys down from Hertfordshire were in fine voice. They had restricted Worthing to just the one goal, and when that’s accomplished there is always the opportunity for devastatingly late drama.

Watching Worthing can be a box of frogs at times – sending you into a spiral of just about every emotion football can throw at you – but the quality and the desire and the heart always shines through. This is a side justly nestled in the play-offs, shuttling with the pack, and so this setback can’t linger in the minds for too long. It followed a similar script to last Saturday’s stormy FA Trophy tie: Worthing just couldn’t finish things off.

And so here we are, the story on this Saturday in mid-December. Within a few forward passes following the start, Danny Cashman was already holding his head in his hands. Mo Faal, who continues to cause countless concern for those in the opposing defence, leapt in behind the backline, looked up, found the run of Cashman with a perfect pass only for the finish to be too high, smacking the ‘V’ of the Adams Food Service Stand.

In transition Cashman was irrepressible. Faal imperious, and Temi Babalola industrious. All three were in-sync, all three could win a game by themselves; but finding that final, killer pass proved no picnic for the purple shirts. Cashman was there again skipping into the box, turning into space, but seeing his shot blocked.

The dearth of scoring when in control has been one of the few concerns for Agutter this campaign. Despite the host’s early dominance St Albans easily could have been the first to find the net. A similar story that has arisen in weeks gone by, and so it came to pass here as a Worthing side came steaming out from the start, brilliantly fluid in all departments, were almost upended by their own attacking intent as the visitors came close through Giorgio Rasulo late in the first half, but Chris Haigh produced a fine reaction save.

This is the flip-side of Agutter’s Worthing when they attack with their foot firmly on the gas. Every attack, every blitz, will leave space for a counter-attack, and sometimes it will lead to a deficit. It’s the risk you take when your mentality is: “Whatever you score, we’ll score more.”

But as half-time approached the St Albans defence just seemed to wilt. They were fortunate to escape after goalkeeper Michael Johnson passed the ball straight to Kane Wills’ feet with the utmost precision, before Faal couldn’t quite convert on his left with the angle shrinking.

But the bright yellow-shirted defence wouldn’t leave the half unscathed as Nicky Wheeler brought the immaculate vibes in the 44th minute. It was as if The Saints had completely missed this part during their pre-match preparations: Wheeler, with the ball on his right-foot outside the box, is devastatingly lethal. Making a brief set of calculations, the ball is angled to audacious accuracy – dipping, curling, spiralling. It was a thing of footballing beauty, and it presented Worthing with a lead to take into the break that they earned on merit.

At the restart the sky turned an aptly orchid sort of shade, and a full moon clung above low white lights of Woodside Road. At 1-0 the focus always has to be on doubling the advantage. Even when three or four goals to the good this is where the Worthing mindset seems to be.

There’s a box office to them, for sure. But at the back they can strike fear into the home support within a matter of seconds. It’s the Worthing way, as Haigh mis-judges a thumping, raking pass from deep. Ken Charles sprints in behind, sets himself and shoots, but Joe Cook’s trailing, terrific leg was there to thwart the leveller.

The warning signs were there. The cliché of 1-0 being a dangerous scoreline was there. Then Sam Beard was there in the box, oddly, jinking into space, but unable to find the net. Cook thundered a header over the crossbar, and Cashman’s attempt at pilfering the Goal of the Day award from Wheeler from what, 35 yards? – was denied by the post. Low scoring, high entertainment. And still, as the clock ticked beyond the 70-minute mark, then the 80th minute, then the 90th minute, St Albans were only a single swipe of a boot away from earning a point.

It came in the 96th minute. The visitors, throwing everyone forward, had pinned Worthing deep. The defence was in disarray as the ball fell to Shaun Jeffers at the back post, who slid home the leveller to send the travelling supporters into ecstasy. It’s a devastating blow in a match which they controlled with relative ease throughout. They just couldn’t apply the knockout blow, and the price was duly paid.

Perhaps when we reflect on the season come late April we will hark back to these games where the points somehow slipped. We might even look to the times where Worthing have inflicted a similar level of late pain into their opponents. Today feels like defeat, and if this showed anything, it’s that in this league victories are not to be taken for granted. This is just one of the bumps in the long, winding road. But there’s room for another response in just seven days’ time.