Spennymoor Town 1 Tamworth 0.

Spennymoor produced a no-frills victory against Tamworth to keep them in fourth place in the Vanarama National League North table with Glen Taylor yet again on target.

Moors have won games with loads of flair and exciting goals this season, but they had to grind out victory against the Lambs at the Brewery Field, winning the game courtesy of Taylor’s 15th goal of the season.

The points also brought an end to a successful January, which has seen them maintain their play-off place and progress to the last 16 of the Buildbase FA Trophy in which they play East Thurrock at the Brewery Field this Saturday.

“It was a brilliant win, because there was a gale blowing and the pitch was heavy,” said manager Jason Ainsley.

“The players responded to the challenge by rolling their sleeves up and picking up the points. As well as Glen Taylor’s goal, we hit the inside of the post twice, but apart from that, neither keeper had much to do.

“It certainly wasn’t a game for the purist, but instead it was a real determined effort to make sure that we won and kept a clean sheet.

“I think we’ve improved greatly from our game against them earlier in the season when they beat us 3-1 at their place. The result shows the strides we have made since then, especially with our fitness levels. We finished the game stronger than them, the same as we did against York City last week away from home.

“They were also very good three points ahead of our Trophy game against East Thurrock on Saturday. We didn’t want to lose today, and then drop further down the table next week when other clubs are playing league games when we’re on Trophy duty.

“It was a good way to end the month of January. We’ve played seven games in all competitions, won six and drawn one. “ Moors could have taken the lead after 5 minutes, but Mark Anderson was denied by Tamworth keeper Jack Stevens, and then Rob Ramshaw put a close range effort over the bar from a Ryan Hall cross.

Tamworth missed a good chance through Tom Shaw before Moors took the lead on 27 minutes, when Taylor received the ball on the edge of the area from an Anderson pass and slotted a good shot into the bottom corner.

Anderson nearly made it 2-0, but his effort came back off the bar, and then Taylor was denied by a last-ditch tackle.

But Tamworth couldn’t be ruled out, and they were furious about having a Shaw goal disallowed for offside, when the ref ruled that Moors keeper Jordan Porter had been distracted by Bradley Reid.

Ramshaw hit the woodwork again with ten minutes left, but Moors stayed in control to put them fourth in the table.

Moors: Porter, Dixon, Mason, Ramshaw, Tait, Curtis, Hall, Henry, Taylor, Anderson (sub Chandler 72), Johnson (sub Fewster 90).

Subs not used: Griffiths, Bland, Chantler.

Attendance 832.