Kidderminster 2 Spennymoor 1.

Spennymoor were furious with a late disallowed goal that denied them a point at Aggborough.

Moors’ first reaction when Glen Taylor’s header hit the back of the net in the last minute was that they had salvaged a last gasp point from a below-par performance, but the referee controversially disallowed the goal for a foul.

The defeat left Moors ten points behind leaders Chorley, with two games in hand, and six points behind second placed Stockport with just one game in hand. Chorley won at Boston, while Stockport were on FA Trophy duty on Saturday.

Moors have a chance to reduce those gaps by three point on Tuesday night, when fifth placed Bradford Park Avenue visit the Brewery Field.

Manager Jason Ainsley spoke at length to the referee after the game, and said; “The big decision of the game for me was the goal that was disallowed in the last minute. Our lads were adamant that it was a good goal, and all the Kidderminster lads said it was as well when they came into our dressing room at the end of the game. I watched the goal on video on the way home, and Glen got up early, overpowered the defender, and headed in.

“I spoke to the referee and he was adamant that it was a foul, but I pointed out to him that the reaction of both sets of players told me a story. Their lads were smiling at me when they came off and saying bad luck.

“That’s the second time this season we’ve been denied a goal against Kidderminster, because in the game at our place, their full back pushed a shot away with his hands.

“I’m not sure if we deserved a point on our performance, but we’d have taken one. For endeavour, we warranted a point, especially when we thought that we’d been rewarded with a perfectly good goal. Kidderminster are a good footballing side. We had to battle for the first 15 minutes to give ourselves a foothold in the game, but we still didn’t play very well.

“I thought we were better in the second half and scored a good goal, but we shot ourselves in the foot straight from the kick off which was disappointing. The first goal was terrible as well, we missed two tackles and got the wrong side in our last third.

“I thought Kidderminster did better with the ball than we did. We were nowhere near our best in the first half and didn’t do enough with the ball. We gave it a go in the last 15/20 minutes of the second half, then in the 90th minute we had the goal disallowed. It was a big decision, especially at this stage of the season. But there’ll be more twists and turns yet.”

Kidderminster nearly opened the scoring on 2 minutes when Joe Ironside fired straight at Moors keeper Mattie Gould from a free kick, then Billy Daniels fired over the top from a Liam McAlinden pass.

The home side broke through on 21 minutes, when Ryan Johnson and McAlinden combined, and set up Ashley Chambers who fired home from a tight angle.

And Moors nearly went 2-0 down on 32 minutes when Joe ironside nodded the ball down for Chambers who seemed a certain scorer from a few yards out until Gould threw himself at the ball and somehow saved a certain goal with an outstretched hand.

With the wind behind them in the second half and a change in formation, Moors were better, and they equalised four minutes after half time.

Shaun Tuton made a good run down the right, and crossed for Glen Taylor to come steaming in and head home at the far post for his 21st league goal of the season.

But within twelve seconds of the restart, Kidderminster caught Moors out and were back in front , when the defence failed to deal with a ball into the box, and Chambers rifled his second goal of the game.

However, as they always do, Moors rolled up their sleeves and battled for an equaliser.

Stephen Brogan set up Taylor, who put a good effort just over the bar, then he headed another cross just wide of the post.

But at the other end, Joe Ironside nearly made it 3-1 with a header from an Edward Williams cross.

Moors kept going, and Jamie Chandler nearly levelled with a deflected shot that Kidderminster keeper Brandon Hall just managed to deflect over the bar.

With three minutes left, sub Adam Boyes had a great opportunity to equalise from a Ryan Hall cross, but the keeper was in the right place to save, then Taylor headed a Brogan cross into Cameron Hall’s hands.

In the last minute, Taylor thought he’d salvaged a point when he headed home another Brogan cross from the left, but the referee harshly penalised him for a foul, which had everybody from Spennymoor protesting.

And after the final whistle the referee showed midfielder Rob Ramshaw for carrying his protests too far, which will mean a three-game ban for the frustrated midfielder.

Team: Gould, Williams, Brogan, Chandler, Harrison, Curtis, Anderson (sub Boyes 67), Henry (sub Hibbs 70), Taylor, Ramshaw, Tuton (sub Hall 80).

Subs: Thackray, Elliott.

Attendance 1436.