WITTON'S promotion play-off hopes faded in the winter sunshine at the GMB Stadium on Saturday.

Their performance sparkled for the first 20 minutes but they found it hard to react to the first setback and impossible to the next.

For the opening 20 minutes their link-up play was good, perhaps even the best of the season. The midfield carved neat patterns into the Spennymoor defence and they might have scored three times in the first 12 minutes.

Jordan King, Gareth Evans, Adam Foy, Mike Moseley - under the watchful eye of Northwich Vics scouts - all gave a bounce to Witton's play.

But Spennymoor took the lead plunging Albion into a quiet spell while they figured out what had gone wrong. They equalised, but the goal did not set their game right.

The visitors scored again 10 minutes into the second half and then defended deeply.

Witton lapsed too easily into balls that carried more good intent than conviction and Ryan Baker arrived too late to provide flair.

He did well and worried Spennymoor but he could not find the right cross to match his pace on the wing.

Moseley, Lee Madin, Foy and Andy Barlow were all way off target.

King should have had a go at goal when it beckoned in the first minute; Stuart Niven lashed a volley by a Witton post; a Moseley low cross evaded Simon Burton; Andy Brown's touch beat Paul Gibson and rolled wide and Darren Horrigan made a fine stop with his feet from Moseley.

Mike Yates fired straight at Horrigan when Moseley and King created space for him just before Brown ran into space behind the left back to collect Phil Brumwell's weighted pass and beat Gibson at the near post with a fierce shot.

Albion had not completely found their early rhythm when Yates equalised and the hope was his goal would lead to better things. King's forward ball was headed beyond the challenging Horrigan by Moseley and all Yates had to do was provide a goalmouth finish.

The first action of the second period was decisive. Brumwell flicked the ball up and over the Witton defence and Danny Brun-skill timed his run to beat the offside trap and drove the ball past Gibson.

Then it got hard for Witton. Confidence in their own teamwork had disappeared and was not rediscovered. But the consistency of defenders, such as Brian Pritchard, emerged again. WITTON: Gibson; Evans, Pritchard, Farley, Furnival; Foy, King, Barlow, Burton (Madin 64); Yates (Baker 76), Moseley.

Att: 263. Star Man: Brian Pritchard, same high-level display as always. Next Best: Gareth Evans.

Team Rating: 3. Match Rating: 3.