Chorley 0 Spennymoor 2: Second-half goals deal Magpies blow in play-off chase

Jamie Vermiglio’s side went into Tuesday’s twice-rearranged encounter unbeaten at home since August 14, but it mattered little as Moors hit twice in the second half to claim the points.

The game swung on two first-half decisions by referee Dean Watson.

The first was the refusal to give a penalty against visiting captain James Curtis for a foul on Jack Sampson.

That was followed by the dishing out of a straight red card for Chorley defender Harvey Smith, who pulled back Jordan Thewlis when the forward was through on goal.

The game remained 0-0 until the 62nd minute when a Mark Anderson free-kick was stabbed home at the second time of asking by the league’s leading scorer Glen Taylor.

Until that point the 20-goal man had been kept relatively quite, as had Chorley’s own double- digit forward Connor Hall, who missed the home side’s best chance of an equaliser when just failing to convert an Adam Blakeman corner with 15 minutes remaining.

The miss would prove costly as mid-table Moors wrapped up their sixth away victory of the season with five minutes to go, Anderson unleashing a superb strike from 25 yards that gave Matt Urwin in the home goal no chance.

CHORLEY: Urwin; Smith, Halls, Leather (c), Whitehouse (Baines 46), Calveley, Sampson, Tomlinson, Ustabaşı, Blakeman (Shenton 65), Hall (Alli 78). Subs not used: Blyth.

SPENNYMOOR: Amissah; Pye, Tait, Curtis (c), Taylor, Ramshaw, Anderson (Hall 88), Preston (Oyibo 74), Richardson, Thewlis (Ofusu 88), Spokes. Subs not used: Eve, Mason.

Attendance: 832