By Michael Ramsay and Ray Simpson

Just a year ago, Northwich Victoria were sliding towards the nether regions of the league. The fact that their current status is that of a side wrestling Darlington for the championship is testament to their resilience, unity and desire. On Saturday, at a windy Brewery Field, those qualities were notably absent and were, instead, showcased by Spennymoor Town.

With Darlington’s game at Padiham having been called off due to a waterlogged pitch, the Vics would have wanted to seized the opportunity to leapfrog their title rivals at the summit of the league table. However, a trip to the home of Spennymoor is never easy, and the home support were certainly buoyed by the last meeting between the two sides, when Moors romped to a 4-1 victory at Valley Road in October.

That was Spennymoor's best away performance of the season so far and on Saturday they produced their best home performance.

Moors, playing with bagfuls of spirit, won the game with a stoppage time goal by substitute Michael Roberts after playing for more than half the game with only ten men following the red card shown to defender Joe Tait.

Manager Jason Ainsley, who had new assistant Anth Smith alongside him on the bench, said: “After Joe’s sending off, one team wanted to win, the other was hoping to win. I thought we coped with the man disadvantage very well, and the players showed a huge amount of character.

“I had no problems with the sending off, but I thought one or two other decisions went against us. We could have had a penalty for a foul on Lewis Dodds that was more blatant than the one we got, and Anthony Peacock said that his effort was over the line.

“We were worried about a sucker punch after they equalised, because we kept pushing for a winner.

“This was a massive three points for us. After the changes we were forced to make, and with all the efforts of the players, we would have been disappointed with a draw. We more than made up for the defeat at Scarborough last week.

“We’ve lost only two league games in the last 15. To some people, the world had collapsed after the Scarborough game. It just goes to show the game is all about fine margins.”

The home side were the first to exert pressure, and their early dominance paid off when former Darlington forward Nathan Fisher stumbled under a challenge in the box. The ever-reliable defender Joe Tait duly dispatched the spot-kick, with protestations from the away side still ringing in the referee’s ear.

“The players have complaints,” Northwich boss Jim Gannon stated. “I can’t really see what contact’s been made. The centre-half was really upset. He felt the player played him. He drew the foul. It could go either way. I had a chat with my players, and they were unhappy that it was given because they felt he didn’t make the contact. He did stick his leg out but the lad did go to ground pretty easily. We’ve seen that at the top end of the game - we can’t seem to differentiate between when people draw a foul and when people make a foul.”

Spurred on by their early goal, the Moors were inches away from adding a second when Anthony Peacock saw his shot scrambled off the line by Callum Henry.

With Northwich struggling to get a foothold in the game, they were granted a lifeline when Tait was shown his marching orders for hauling down the lively Godwin Abadaki before half-time.

Moors left-back Steve Capper had unnecessarily squared the ball midway inside his own half towards Tait, who was beaten to it by the Northwich player

Roddy. The striker had a yard start on Tait, who unsuccessfully tried to discreetly tug him back once, but when the defender pulled him again, referee Will Finnie awarded a foul and showed Tait a straight red.

Tait had no complaints about the sending off, and admitted that he’d pulled the speedy striker back twice. “I was more annoyed with the ball that Steve Capper played across the back four to me.”

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the home side showed no signs of wilting in the second half and threatened on a number of occasions. The equaliser arrived after 65 minutes, however, when Aboubacar Sanogo latched on to a through-ball to fire past Adam McHugh in the Spennymoor goal.

While other sides may have retreated and defended their point against the extra man, the home team continued to press for the winner, allowing the second half to open up. Lewis Dodds forced a sprawling save from the away keeper with a volley from inside the six-yard area, while Paul Johnson flashed a header just wide of the post.

The reward for their perseverance came at the death, when substitute Michael Roberts made amends for an earlier missed chance by collecting a long ball and firing past Tim Deasy to send the home crowd into raptures.

Spennymoor Town: McHugh, Griffiths, Mason, Dodds, Tait, Capper, Stephenson, Henry, Henderson (Ward 90), Fisher (Roberts 68), Peacock (Johnson 34). Subs (not used): Cogdon, McReady

Northwich Victoria: Deasy, Smalley, Henry, Clarke, Ali (Burnett 60), Cook, Summerskill, Roddy (Sherratt 45), Abadaki, Sanogo, Bennett (Amis 79). Subs (not used): Smith, Meadowcroft

Referee: Will Finnie