TADCASTER Albion's pre-season preparations continued with a narrowly 2-1 defeat to Vanarama National North side Spennymoor Town.

Taddy manager Paul Quinn used the game as an opportunity to field some of his new signings, including Kieran Burton whose crossing caused Spennymoor several difficulties early on.

Fellow debutant Des Amponsah also threatened from the wing and he almost put the Brewers ahead.

A lovely outside-of-the-boot pass from Junayd Cassius-Gill teed up the new recruit but his attempted lob landed on the roof of the net.

Five minutes later, the hosts would break the deadlock when a quick counter attack led by Amponsah found Cassius-Gill who delivered perfectly to Simon Russell.

The captain initial header was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper, but he made no mistake with the follow up volley.

Despite making a great start to proceedings, Tadcaster's lead did not last long. Only a couple of minutes after, Spennymoor got themselves level.

Stephen Thompson grabbed the equaliser with a looping header which nestled into the far corner.

That gave Town the impetus and they then produced a flurry of chances which required several smart stops from Harrison Davison-Hale to keep Tadcaster in the game by half-time.

After a bright start by Taddy, Spennymoor regained a foothold in the match and began to create opportunities.

Davison-Hale impressively tipped a header over the bar and at full stretch he made another terrific stop from a long-range strike.

Just before the hour mark, the pressure finally told as the Taddy keeper committed a a foul and Mark Anderson converted the penalty kick.

Despite the error, Davison-Hale received a warm applause when he substituted with a quarter of an hour to go after a superb display.

The game descended into a scrappy affair until the final 10 minutes, when Tadcaster twice almost drew level.

Damien Giliga was inches away from Marco Basic's delivery and Eddie Church saw a powerful near-post shot well saved.

In spite of suffering a defeat, Tadcaster will be able to take positives from largely matching a side playing two tiers above them.

Albion make the trip to Scarborough Athletic this evening (8pm) in another friendly encounter.

Meanwhile, Pickering Town kept up their brilliant record in front of goal during this pre-season campaign by winning 6-1 at Northallerton Town.

Three goals in five minutes from Will Taylor, Aston Harrison and Thomas Alngohuro put the Pikes in the driving seat midway through the first half.

Two quick-fire strikes from Luke Balderson arrived after the interval and Donny Holdsworth added further gloss to the scoreline after the hour mark.

Northallerton's Lewis Rees scored a consolation for the hosts with five minutes remaining.

Pickering host Hull City Under-23s on Wednesday evening (7.30pm) in what is at present their final pre-season friendly, though the club have said they are hopeful of arranging another warm-up match.

Their Northern Premier League east campaign begins on August 14 at Shildon.

Elsewhere, Selby Town begin their Toolstation Northern Counties East Football League division one season with a trip to Rainworth Miners Welfare on Saturday (3pm).