Spennymoor Town 1 Salford City 1.

Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley said that he was proud of his players even though they conceded a late goal in a 1-1 draw against Salford on Saturday.

It looked as if Moors’ magnificent start to the season would continue thanks to an opening goal by poacher Andy Johnson, but Salford, who played with ten men for all the second half, battled back and equalised.

Nevertheless, the result still puts Moors into a good frame of mind for today’s derby game against Darlington at Blackwell Meadows, as Moors have lost just once in their six league games so far.

“I’m proud of the lads for what they’ve done so far this season,” said Ainsley.

“When you consider that last Saturday for the game at Brackley we set off at 7.45 in the morning and didn’t get back until 10.30 at night, and then on Tuesday some of the lads didn’t get home until 2.30 in the morning and went out to work a few hours later.

“They worked their socks off against a full time team, who were a quality outfit, make no mistake about that. We didn’t create a great deal, but we nearly held on and I was delighted with our work ethic. A draw was probably a fair result, but I was disappointed that we conceded when they were down to ten men.

“We can’t grumble about our record so far, we would have taken four wins and a draw from the first six matches when we saw the fixtures at the start of the season.”

Salford started the game better than Moors, and were denied a breakthrough twice by Moors keeper Dan Lowson. First, he just managed to tip a powerful header by Mike Phenix over the bar, and minutes later he blocked a low shot by Phenix, and then recovered to deny Jake Beesley on the follow up.

The game tipped in Moors’ favour on 38 minutes when Salford defender Liam Hogan was shown a straight red card for a bad tackle on Glen Taylor when he showed far too many studs for the referee’s liking.

Despite their man disadvantage, Salford nearly took the lead on the hour when sub Jack Redshaw got through from the halfway line, but Lowson pulled off another good save.

Moors kept plugging away though, and went in front on 72 minutes when Jake Orrell’s ball into the box was cleared as far as Chris Chantler, who drove the ball back into the six yard box where Andy Johnson diverted the ball past the keeper.

But Moors could only hold on to their lead for ten minutes. Salford put the Moors defence under pressure and won a free kick that Ibou Touray drove towards goal, and the unfortunate Shane Henry could only glance the ball past Lowson for the equaliser.

Ainsley will now prepare his players for the clash against the Quakers, their sixth in three different leagues since 2012, counting that dramatic play off in the EvoStik First Division North in 2015, when David Dowson, now at Spennymoor, scored the winner.

“They are always very good games against Darlington who are a top side. I don’t think we can read too much into the league form so far of both teams, but we will need nine or ten of our players to be at the top of their form if we are to win,” he said.

“We’re hoping that as many Spennymoor fans as possible will go to Darlington and support us, it’s sure to be a great atmosphere.”

Team: Lowson, Griffiths, Tait, Mason, Chantler, Henry, Dixon (sub Anderson 85, ) Johnson, Ramshaw, Foley (sub Orrell 70), Taylor. Subs not used: Porter, Chandler, Armstrong Defender James Curtis will return after a one match ban for Moors, but midfielder Ryan Hall is doubtful because of injury.