Spennymoor Town 3 Harrogate Town 1.

Spennymoor pulled off another magnificent result when they beat second in the table Harrogate Town at the Brewery Field on Saturday, with manager Jason Ainsley hailing it as “the perfect performance.”

Yet again Moors passed a stiff test with flying colours, thanks to two early goals which gave them a stranglehold on the game that they never relinquished.

David Foley once again showed his quality with an early goal, and when it mattered most, the Moors defended valiantly to give them their fifth home league win of the season, and more importantly keep them in fourth place in the table, eight points inside the play offs and just three points behind Harrogate who remain in second place.

Manager Jason Ainsley was naturally delighted with the performance, which surpassed some of the previous great victories over Chorley, Stockport and Southport.

“It was a perfect performance against a team that is full time,” he said. “Without a doubt, it was our best performance of the season. We could have scored a few more in what was a real team performance. Every player was at the top of his game, and any of them could have been the man of the match. David Foley and Ryan Hall tore them apart with their pace, and David scored a great opening goal. Scoring twice early on was a massive plus, and made it difficult for them.

“Harrogate have some really good players, and we soaked up the pressure in the second half and counter-attacked well. It was nice to hear their manager say after the game that the better team won, and he had no complaints.

“What pleases me most is, that we’ve gone toe-to-toe with a full-time team that is second in the table, looked fitter than them and showed great character to win the game.”

Moors couldn’t have asked for a better start against Simon Weaver’s men, who had dropped only two points previously on their travels this season.

Foley has scored some top quality goals this season, and he produced another in the second minute, when he controlled the ball with his back to goal, swivelled and fired past Harrogate keeper James Belshaw.

Moors continued to throw everything at Harrogate, but the visitors nearly levelled when Jack Emmett got away but he fired over the bar from a good position, then Andy Nelson’s header bounced off the top of the crossbar.

But Moors gained some breathing space by getting a second on 18 minutes, when a Ryan Hall ball into the Harrogate box caused confusion, and there was a mix up between Belshaw and a defender that saw the ball drop for Glen Taylor to tap in his 10th league goal of the season.

The game went from end to end after that, and Moors could have had another when Foley’s pace took him away and Belshaw saved.

Harrogate put the brakes on Moors slightly when they pulled a goal back on 34 minutes when Nelson headed in from a Jack Emmett cross from a couple of yards, but Moors quickly restored their two-goal lead on 39 minutes.

Foley’s cross was cleared by the Harrogate defence to the edge of the box as far as Rob Ramshaw, who calmly curled the ball right footed beyond Belshaw for his first league goal of the season.

The first half thrills didn’t end there, with Jamie Chandler making a terrific clearance off his own line.

The second half followed the same pattern. Taylor went close at the start of the second half, while Harrogate’s Josh Falkingham struck the post from long range.

Belshaw then made a great save from Foley in a Moors’ break, then Ramshaw put another chance just wide.

With Harrogate pushing forward in the closing stages, Foley put another effort wide, then he put a header over the top as Moors finished strongly.

Team: Porter, Griffiths, Chantler, Curtis, Tait, Dixon, Chandler, Hall, Ramshaw, Foley (sub Johnson 89), Taylor (sub Armstrong 77).

Subs not used: Mason, Bland, Anderson.

Attendance 1085.