Bradford Park Avenue 1 Spennymoor Town 2.

Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley said that his team showed great character to come back from a windy Horsfall Stadium with all three points on Saturday.

Moors stood up to a late Bradford onslaught to keep them fourth in the table, and more importantly six points inside the play off positions.

“I thought that the lads did very well, considering the conditions were difficult and a gale was blowing,” he said.

“When Bradford pulled a goal back in the second half, the character of our players really shone through. At 2-0, I thought that we would go on and score three or four, but they caught us with a counter-attack to put them back into the game and that encouraged them to come more at us.

“It was a dogged display by our lads. Defensively we were excellent, and we always looked dangerous when we attacked, but sometimes our final ball let us down.

“I thought it was a really top performance following on from our two matches against Blyth. We didn’t come unstuck when maybe we could have done, and we showed that we’re capable of competing with teams around us. We’re fourth in the table, and we’ve got more points than some much bigger clubs in our division.

“It was a very good result against a team that had taken ten points out of twelve in its previous four games. A few years ago, we would have lost a game like that, it shows how much tougher we’ve become.”

Moors took control of the game straight from the kick off and took the lead on 15 minutes. Mark Anderson hit the post from a Rob Ramshaw assist, and David Foley was on hand to tap the ball home.

Bradford should have levelled when former Darlington midfielder Adam Nowakowski struck the bar and Oli Johnson missed from the rebound.

But Moors got on top again, and Shane Henry, Anderson and Foley all went close before half time.

Bradford put more pressure on the Moors defence in the second half, and Shane Bland pulled off a good stop before Moors got their second on 74 minutes. James Curtis nodded the ball down from a right wing corner for Chris Mason to stoop and head the ball in.

But the points weren’t guaranteed because Bradford pulled a goal back when Nicky Clee scored from the rebound after Bland blocked Jamie Spencer’s shot.

However, Moors showed their character again, and held on to their lead until the end.

Spennymoor: Bland, Dixon, Mason, Curtis, Chantler, Henry, Chandler, Ramshaw, Anderson (sub Hall 90+4), Foley (sub Foley 73), Taylor.

Subs: Porter, Fewster, Tait.

Attendance 448.

Moors’ next game is the trophy tie at home to Gainsborough on Tuesday, but if the game is postponed, then it will be switched to Gainsborough on Thursday, with the winners at home to Solihull on Saturday.