Nantwich Town’s bid for promotion came to a disappointing end with a 2-0 play-off defeat away at Spennymoor.
The Dabbers made the play-offs for the first time in eight years and were aiming to earn promotion to Conference North.
And they pushed the league runners-up all the way, but were beaten by two second half strikes.
Spennymoor started well and Johnson had the first half chance as he curled over from distance.
Graeme Armstrong then beat two defenders but shot straight at Dan Gyollai from the edge of the area.
Griffiths went the closest in the first half as he whipped a 25-yard free kick just wide.
After a shaky start, the Dabbers grew into the game.
From a sliced clearance, the Dabbers won a corner and came close to taking the lead.
The ball into the box was missed by the diving Curtis Jones under the cross bar and the ball fell to Sam Hall, who fired just over.
From a free kick on the edge of the Moors penalty area, Hancock fired two yards over.
Hancock also had a shot from distance blocked for a throw as clear cut chances remained hard to come by in freezing temperatures and driving rain.
After the break, Spennymoor caused an early scramble in the Dabbers box which the visitors cleared to safety.
A looping cross looked to have found Taylor at the back post, but Jones made a superb header to break up the attack.
Hancock then made the play of the game as he showed great skill on the left to beat his man.
His pull back found Bell, who saw a shot deflect for a corner.
From the corner, Harrison headed wide.
Spennymoor should have taken the lead on the hour mark.
A cross was blocked by Curtis Jones, but the clearance fell to a Moors striker who forced Gyollai into an incredible close range save, pushing the ball over the bar for a corner.
The decisive moment came in the 65th minute.
Spennymoor broke at the Dabbers defence and the away side gave away a free kick.
From the set piece, Griffiths found a gap in the wall and it beat Gyollai low at his near post.
Nantwich assistant boss Neil Sorvel (pictured) brought on Joe Mwasile for Mukendi as they looked for an equaliser.
The Dabbers tried to get back into the game and Ryan Brooke came on for Wayne Riley.
But with just over 10 minutes to go, Spennymoor doubled their lead.
They won the ball back in the Dabbers half and Johnson cut inside before firing low into the bottom corner.
It was a hammer blow to the Dabbers, one which they would not recover from.
Nantwich pushed but Spennymoor hit them on the break and sub David Dowson forced Gyollai into a smart save down to his right.
The final chance for the Dabbers fell to Bell, who headed over a Touray free kick.
It brought the Dabbers season to an end.
Nantwich Town: Dan Gyollai, Andy White, Ibou Touray, Ben Harrison, Curtis Jones, Sam Hall (c), Josh Hancock (Osebi Abadaki, 85), Wayne Riley (Ryan Brooke, 77), Vinny Mukendi (Joe Mwasile, 71), Matt Bell, Tom Peers. Unused subs: Steve Jones, Joel Stair.
Recent Comments