Spennymoor march on!!

Moors are through to the 4th qualifying round of the FA cup after a 75th minute penalty from Joe Tait proved to be just enough to dispatch Ashton United.

The penalty had been awarded in somewhat controversial circumstances Gavin Cogdon was put through and out came Ashton keeper Paul Phillips and duly brought down the Moors striker.  A yellow card was brandished to the Robins stopper and he was lucky not to be in more trouble as he disputed the decision.  In all fairness to Phillip's he did have a bit of a case as after watching the penalty incident the contact looks to be made just outside the box, but it is not clear and in the end it is fair play to the Spennymoor centre back who kept his cool and delivered an unstoppable spot kick into the top right hand corner.

Match winner Joe Tait.

Before the goal both teams had their chances and both had goals disallowed.  moors thought they had taken the lead on 21 minutes through Michael Roberts, only for the linesman's flag to quash the celebrations.  Later in the half  Ashton thought they had taken lead when Jack Higgins rose to head home a corner but unfortunately for the Robins the referee had already blown for a foul on the Spennymoor keeper Adam McHugh.

Ashton were more the dominant team in the second half and when Moors scored it was slightly against the run of play.  After the goal Spennymoor had to withstand heavy pressure but Tait and the rest of his back four stood firm and managed to hang on to a very important cup victory which puts them in the next round.

The draw for the final qualifying round took place yesterday and the Moors have secured a home tie against AFC Telford United of the Conference Premier.

This is obviously a great tie for Spennymoor being at home is always an advantage but playing a team fron the conference should also bring some punters in.  AFC Telford United are currently rock bottom of the top tier of non league football so it maybe a very good time to play them.

In other news Moors have signed a new striker this week.  Nathan Fisher is the newest addition to the Spennymoor squad.  25 year old Fisher has joined from Darlington, a former Middlesborough youth player he has had spells for Durham City, Chester-le-Street Town and Gateshead before joining the Quakers in 2013.

New signing Nathan Fisher.

The moors march on and who knows how far they can now go in this competition.

Good luck to Ashton United for the rest of the season as well.

http://youtu.be/G1XIaXs5lGo  Here are the highlights.

www.spennymoortownfc.co.uk/  Read the match report here.

Up the Moors!!