PHIL Parkinson admitted conducting a heated dressing room inquest after league leaders Altrincham almost relinquished a three-goal lead in a frantic finish against in-form title rivals Ashton United at The J.Davidson Stadium on Tuesday night.

Leading 3-0 and seemingly cruising to victory, Alty were left hanging on after Ashton hit back with an 82nd-minute penalty a stoppage-time free kick.

The comeback followed three second-half substitutions by Alty boss Parkinson, who pulled no punches as he said: "I was massively disappointed with the way we finished the game and I've expressed my feelings to the players about the last 10 to 15 minutes, where we lost control and made poor decisions.

"I'm going to have to take the brunt of that, because I made changes I didn't need to, and, without pinning any blame whatsoever on the players who went on, it disjointed us.

"But the point is, we should have managed the game far better and seen it out without any problems, and I just won't tolerate that.

"It's not just me who was angry. The players were as well, and that's fantastic to see.

"We've had a right inquest in there about the whys and wherefores of what happened at the end, and that shows how conscientious they are about their performances which is great to see."

Max Harrop and James Poole had given Alty a 2-0 half-time lead, while Jordan Hulme claimed his 20th league goal in the 72nd minute, and Parkinson added: "I don't want my displeasure at the way we ended the game to detract from what went before, because for 75 minutes the lads were absolutely superb.

"Max gave us the ideal start with a strike no keeper would have stopped, and you could call it an angry header by James for the second.

"He'd just been clattered twice, so when the cross came in I just fancied he might win the aerial duel.

"Jordan again showed he's got great feet for the third goal and with others around us winning, this was another big three points."