NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH

BLYTH Spartans manager Graham Fenton described his side’s secondhalf performance in Saturday’s draw at Brackley Town as ‘nowhere near good enough’.

Fenton’s men looked set to hand a major boost to their bid to preserve their National League North status when Nicky Deverdics gave them a deserved lead midway through the first half.

That looked to have done enough to claim a surprise three points against the play-off challengers as Spartans saw off a number of chances from their hosts during the second 45 minutes.

But former Spartans striker Levi Amantchi was handed the chance to secure a point for Brackley in the sixth minute of added-on time and he took the opportunity when he tapped home from close range after seeing Alex Mitchell keep out his effort from the penalty spot.

Fenton told the club website: “Let’s just look at the second half, it’s nowhere near good enough, nowhere near good enough.

“We have dominated for the first half-hour, been the better team, got the lead and literally gone as a team let’s protect the lead.

“It’s a psychological thing and this is symptomatic of our season so far that we can’t go from 1-0 and on top to two or three and kill the game.

“That’s why we open ourselves up to what has just happened in the last few seconds of the game. I know we won three games 1-0 but is that what we are going to do? Can we not have more about us as a team and be more ruthless and clinical and kill teams when we are on top?”

Darlington remain firmly in the play-off mix after they completed a league double over Hereford.

Alun Armstrong’s men took the lead seven minutes before half-time with a fine finish from Jarrett Rivers and doubled their lead midway through the second half when Andrew Nelson converted from close range.

A final Quakers display was rounded off in the final minute as Jacob Hazel produced a fine run and finish to fire home his side’s third goal of the day.

Spennymoor Town failed to halt King’s Lynn Town’s promotion push as Jason Ainsley’s men fell to a 3-0 defeat at The Walks Stadium.

The hosts opened the scoring with seven minutes on the clock when Adam Crowther headed home from a corner-kick.

Former Wrexham striker Jordan Ponticelli doubled their lead with just over quarter of an hour remaining, and Gold Omtoyo rubbed salt into the Moors’ wounds when he added a third in the final minutes.