Alex Birch (words) & David Airey (pics) at The Brewery Field
THE Magpies returned from The Brewery Field empty-handed once again as Spennymoor claimed the points on a cold afternoon in County Durham.
This was despite a near-perfect start for Andy Preece’s men, who took the lead inside two minutes. Billy Whitehouse’s corner from the left was swiped at twice by Jon Ustabaşı, the second time his effort flew past Dan Langley from 20 yards for his 12th of the season.
Moors went on to boss the rest of the first half and were level within seven minutes when Glen Taylor headed home his 13th league goal of the campaign off a Mark Anderson corner.
Strike partner Paul Blackett then swept the home side in front on the half hour. The rapid forward getting in behind the Chorley defence before finishing confidently past Matt Urwin.
Blackett also headed wide and Rob Ramshaw had a goal disallowed for offside, as the visitors hung in through to half time.
The Magpies started the second half with confidence and created two half chances within five minutes. Harry Scarborough, making his first league start, forced Langley into a low save before Ustabaşı saw an effort blocked on the edge of the box.
The pace dropped, as did the chances, as the game moved closer to its conclusion. Blackett was denied by a strong Urwin arm with 20 minutes remaining and Rob Ramshaw could have sealed the game with 10 to go, but was denied by a brilliant Scott Leather goal-line clearance.
A late Chorley rally saw Ustabaşı twice go close, but it wasn’t enough to get something out of the game.
Spennymoor Langley; Lufudu, Tait, Curtis (c), Taylor, Ramshaw, Anderson (Shanks, 86′), Ross, Kendall, Mbeka, Blackett (McKeown, 90’+4). Subs not used: Flatters, Ledger, Ravenhill.
Chorley Urwin; Henley, Smith, Leather (c), Nolan (Shenton, 66′), Whitehouse, Calveley, Ustabaşı, Finney, Scarborough (Johnson, 66′), Hall. Subs not used: Wilson, Blakeman, Drench.
Individual errors have cost us again and we’ve now got a huge 10 games as we look to continue our good league position and qualify for the playoff come the end of April – Andy Preece
HT 2-1
Goals (assists) Taylor 7′ (Anderson), Blackett 29′ | Ustabaşı 2′ (Whitehouse)
Cautions Curtis 59′, Ross 62′ | Leather 63′
Dismissals None | None
Crowd 1,232 (17 away fans)
Officials Ben Tomlinson | Adam Burgess & Rob Rees
Next Up
Back home for the final midweek game of the season – Hereford the visitors for a 7:45pm start; £15 Adults | £12 65+/Concessions | £7 17-20s | £5 12-16s | FREE Accompanied u12s (online here or at the turnstiles)
