"Bucks kick off 2026 with a trip to Spennymoor"

Match Date : January 3rd, 2026 3:00 pm
Competition : National League North
Ground : The Brewery Field
Kick Off : 15:00

This game has now been postponed.

The Bucks begin 2026 with a long trip to County Durham to take on Spennymoor Town on Saturday.

The Moors are well-established as promotion contenders, although they have a quite remarkable record of missing out on the playoff places by the narrowest of margins. Since their promotion to the National League North in 2017, the Moors have only actually made the playoffs once – that was during 2018/19, when they finished 4th before losing the playoff final to Chorley on penalties. Their other campaigns in Step 2 are scarcely believable such are the fine margins by which the Moors have missed out on the playoff places. In 2017/18 they finished 8th, missing out on goal difference alone. In 2019/20, the Moors sat 6th when Covid ended the campaign early, but they fell to 8th when the table was adjusted for points per game (with the playoffs still taking place during this season). Their lowest finish came in 2021/22; but although they finished 10th, the Moors were still only three points off the top seven. And for the last three seasons Town have finished 9th, missing out on goal difference in 2022/23 and by a single point in each of the last two campaigns.

Graeme Lee’s men are clearly a good side then, and they look likely to be in the playoff picture again this year. The Moors currently sit in 9th on 34 points, two points and five places above the Bucks. Town haven’t been in great form of late, however, with just two wins from ten in the league that has seen a return of just 11 points in total. That sequence includes a current four-match winless run in which the Moors have drawn their last three at home (Buxton, Oxford, Scarborough), while they were hammered 6-0 on Boxing Day at South Shields.

In Glen Taylor, though, Spennymoor have one of the league’s deadliest and most consistent goal scorers. Prior to 2025/26, the Moors’ all-time top scorer had hit 150 goals in the National League North at an average of 21 goals per campaign (discounting the two Covid seasons). Taylor has 13 in 20 this time around, while another club stalwart, midfielder Rob Ramshaw, is another man who the Bucks will have to keep an eye on this weekend.

The Moors have won just one out of 14 meetings with the Bucks, with Kevin Wilkin’s men running out comfortable 3-0 winners when the sides met at the SEAH Stadium in August. The Bucks’ last visit to the Brewery Field back at the start of the 2022/23 season ended in a 1-1 draw.

The Bucks’ nine-game unbeaten run came to an end at Kidderminster on Tuesday evening, and Kevin Wilkin will no doubt be looking for a positive response this weekend. The Bucks will want to start the new year on the front foot, and a win would lift Wilkin’s men above the Moors in the league table.

MATCHDAY INFORMATION

You can purchase tickets online in advance via the Spennymoor website.

Website: www.spennymoortownfc.co.uk

Ground Address: Wood Vue, Spennymoor, County Durham, DL16 6JN