Andy Hill admitted a point was almost pointless after his Briton Ferry Llansawel side were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Barry Town United.
The top two in JD Cymru South met at Old Road, but Briton Ferry could only force a draw – meaning leaders Barry remain nine points clear at the top of the table.
It left Hill a frustrated figure as he admitted: “The bottom line was that we needed the three points.
“The boys left everything out there. They did everything they could and on another day we might have won. But it just wasn’t to be.”
Barry’s Captain Fantastic Kayne McLaggon celebrated becoming the only player in the second tier of Welsh football to be picked for the Cymru C squad to face England by bagging his 26th league goal of the season.
McLaggon gave his table-topping side the lead just before the break.
It looked as though that would be enough to earn all three points until Connor Goldsworthy grabbed a late, late equaliser in the 96th minute to earn the Ferrymen a point.
That was at least some consolation for the home side, but it meant the gap between them and the league leaders remains huge with games running out.
The Linnets are now only two wins away from clinching the title and earning promotion to JD Cymru Premier.
Carmarthen Town ran riot at Swansea University as they won 5-0, despite missing a penalty.
Sam Parsons got them up and running and Greg Walters and Noah Daley made it 3-0 at the break.
Daley was particularly relieved at scoring because he had missed the penalty in the 33rd minute. Liam Thomas and Josh Gibson got the second half goals.
Liam Eason took his league goal tally for the season to 17 as he hit a hat-trick in the 6-0 home win for Cambrian & Clydach Vale over Trefelin.
Eason’s efforts mean Cambrian are up to 40 points in fourth place and have a game in hand on third-place Afan Lido.
Having notched the only goal of a competitive first-half, the 25-year-old – who scored 27 times in 28 games for Ynyshir Albions last season – next struck from the penalty spot.
That made it 3-0 after Keiron Coles had doubled the lead shortly after the break. His hat-trick goal made 4-0 as Trefelin were made to pay for going down to 10 men with the 58th minute sending off of Matt Beynon.
Oliver Amos and Cameron Keith then completed the scoring.
Elsewhere, Llantwit Major won 2-1 at Cwmbran Celtic to move eight points clear of their opponents in mid-table.
Goytre United pulled away from the relegation zone with a useful 2-1 win at home to Abergavenny Town, thanks to goals from Jordan Edwards and Josh Jones.
And Pontardawe Town also put some distance between themselves and the bottom three with a 3-0 home win over bottom club Ynyshir Albions, thanks to a brace from Ryan Lewis-Hillier.
