Spennymoor Town 1 York City 4.

Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley was still feeling positive after his side was beaten 4-1 at home by league leaders York City on Saturday.

Moors have invested heavily in their pitch and other facilities during the summer, but it was Steve Watson’s outfit that came out on top in Moors’ first home game on their brand-new surface in front of a big crowd.

Moors gave themselves too much to do in conceding three goals in the first half to the league leaders, who are now unbeaten in their first six matches, having dropped only two points so far.

Moors are without a win in four league games, but Ainsley was still pretty positive after the game, just as he was at the same stage last season when Moors had a poor August and ended up in the play-off final in May.

“I thought we put in a good performance, certainly one that was better at Guiseley earlier in the season,” he said. “I was very pleased with the way we attacked and created opportunities, but we gave ourselves too much to do. There were a lot more positives from this game than there have been in previous games.

“We got back into the game at 3-1, and early in the second half Shane Henry missed a glorious chance from around the penalty spot, then Andy Johnson put one wide from six yards out. Other chances were going just wide. If any of those had gone to make the score 3-2, then it would have been completely different and we would have had every chance of going on to win the game.

“But then there was a misplaced pass that they picked up and hit into the top corner from 25 yards.

“Our problem so far this season has been the number of defensive mistakes, and again there were mistakes on Saturday.

“I thought that the first goal was a dubious free kick against Jamie Chandler. Mattie Gould had to do better for the second goal when the ball came into our box, and for the third one he was beaten at his near post. But despite conceding those goals, we still felt that we could get something out of the game at half time because of the way that we were attacking.

“I couldn’t fault the efforts of the players in the second half because we caused plenty of problems for York. But we can’t concede four goals and expect to win football matches. Every time we make a mistake we seem to be punished.

“I’ll be looking for a much better defensive performance at Curzon Ashton on Monday, but we know it will be a difficult game there.”

There was a great atmosphere in the ground for Moors’ first home game on their new surface, and Moors had early openings for Glen Taylor and Mark Anderson which they didn’t take advantage of, and York keeper Peter Jameson came out of his area to head away from Ben McKenna.

But York took the lead on 18 minutes. Jamie Chandler was punished for a foul 25 yards out, and San Newton curled the ball around the wall and into the net past the helpless Gould in the Moors’ goal.

Chandler then turned a header by Kieran Green off the line as York went looking for a second, while Stephen Brogan made a good challenge to deny Jordan Burrow.

It was all York at this point, and they scored a second when former Moors defender Joe Tait, who has been brought in from the cold by York boss Steve Watson, picked up a weak punch clear by Gould and fired the ball into the Moors six yard box where it bounced off defender James Curtis and into the net.

York missed another chance before former Moors defender Kallum Griffiths, who had already fired two efforts off target, was given space to hit a special from 25 yards that beat Gould all ends up for the third.

Moors kept the game alive just before the break with a strike by McKenna from a right-wing cross, and they could have had another before half time if Shane Henry hadn’t put a chance from the edge of the box over the top.

Henry missed a much better chance at the start of the second half from eight yards out, and then Callum Williams set up Andy Johnson, who put the ball over from a few yards.

Ainsley made three changes, one of them being the popular Gavin Cogdon for his return debut, but instead it was York who gained the momentum and finished the game on 77 minutes, when Adriano Moke fired the fourth into the top corner from 25 yards following a misplaced pass by Williams and sealed York’s fourth straight win.

*Moors midfielder Rob Ramshaw will return after suspension for Monday’s game, while defender Carl Magnay is hoping to have recovered from flu for the game at the Tameside Stadium.

Team: Gould, Williams, Buddle, Curtis, Brogan; Chandler, McKenna, Henry (sub Ward 61), Anderson (sub Roberts 61), Johnson (sub Cogdon 73), Taylor.

Subs not used: Atkinson, Boyes.

York: Jameson, Griffiths, McNulty, Tait, Ferguson, Newton, Moke, Bond, Green (sub Dyer 80), Burrow, Kempster (sub Langstaff 87).

Subs not used: York, Spratt, Whitley.

Attendance 1563.

Spennymoor midfielder Ryan Hall has joined BetVictor League club Grantham on loan for a month.