IT was a tough Tuesday night at the office for Warrington Town as they were beaten 2-0 by Spennymoor Town.
The in-form Yellows were second best and succumbed to two first half goals, include Reece Staunton’s strike on the stroke of half time which left the visitors with too much to do.
Mark Beesley made two changes to the side that won impressively at Curzon Ashton on Saturday, Matt Grivosti returning from suspension and Dec Walker starting in place of Jay Harris and Matty McDonald, benched as a precaution following a knock.
Inside two minutes, striker Mikael Ndjoli, who scored against the Yellows for Blyth Spartans earlier in the season, had stung the hands of Dan Atherton with a shot in a sign of things to come as he proved a handful.
Energetic midfield duo Matty Dolan and Rob Ramshaw made it difficult for the Yellows, featuring Andre Wisdom in defensive midfield, to play their normal game.
A succession of corners eventually led to the first goal on 18 minutes, Dolan’s corner finding a free Lebrun Mbeka and his header from point blank range had too much power for Atherton and Andy White on the line to keep out.
A 1-0 lead gave Spennymoor momentum and they landed the killer blow in the final minute of the half. Staunton dispossessed Isaac Buckley-Ricketts in midfield and drove forward, lashing a left-foot shot home at the near post.
An earlier than intended return for Josh Amis breathed some life in to the Yellows mid way through the second half, by which time Atherton had already kept out a curling shot from Finlay Shrimpton.
Amis cushioned a ball across goal for Dec Walker to head over and then was released through the middle, attempted to go round Brad James but the ‘keeper kept him out.
Although the Yellows looked more of a threat going forward, they were also vulnerable to counter attacks. From one of those, the excellent Ramshaw was denied by a Tom Hannigan block and then substitute Will Harris headed over.
The Yellows’ night was summed up when in injury time, McDonald broke through the middle and went down in a collision with John Lufudu, only to have the foul go against him.
Warrington now return home to Cantilever Park for three consecutive home games, starting with the visit of Brackley Town on Saturday.
Spennymoor Town: Brad James, John Lufudu, Reece Staunton, Lebrun Mbeka, Rob Ramshaw, Ben Pollock, Danny Greenfield, Corey McKeown, Matty Dolan (Sam Fielding), Mikael Ndjoli (Will Harris), Finley Shrimpton. Unused subs: Donald Chimalilo, Owen Gallacher, Michael Ledger.
Warrington Town: Dan Atherton, Dec Walker (Matty McDonald), Andy White, Tom Hannigan, Connor Woods, Sean Williams, Kacper Pasiek (Josh Amis), Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, Andre Wisdom, Matt Grivosti (Sam Gill), Peter Clarke. Unused subs: Evan Gumbs, James Harris.
