There was nothing to separate a threadbare Spennymoor and Gloucester on an afternoon short on incident and quality.

Chances were at a premium throughout the game and the result does little to enhance Moors’ late surge for a play-off spot.

Moors’ squad was reduced to just 14 players following an illness bug in the camp coupled with a cluster of injuries.

That meant a rare start for Chris Mason at left back in place of Ethan Pye, while Luke Spokes replaced Ryan Hall in midfield.

Gloucester’s team sheet saw a very late change with Matt McClure being replaced by Lucas Tomlinson.

Both teams struggled to adapt to difficult conditions in a scrappy opening ten minutes, with The Brewery Field surface showing noticeable damage following weeks of torrid weather.

The contest was a non-event for 24 minutes with the match being exclusively played between both penalty areas, with Spokes’ deflected strike the only incident of note.

Gloucester captain Kevin Dawson then set his sights from long range but Jordan Amissah comfortably collected and quelled any danger.

The visitors almost took the lead through Moors skipper James Curtis when he inadvertently headed towards his own goal from a corner, a sequence which summed up the quality of the match to that point.

Danny King was denied a shooting opportunity seconds later when Joe Tait timed a sliding block to perfection as Gloucester began to grow into the occasion.

Moors’ best opening of the game came five minutes before the interval when Rob Ramshaw skimmed past Dawson before forcing Liam Armstrong into a smart save.

Spennymoor emerged with added intensity at the start of the second half and came within inches of taking the lead when Jordan Thewlis’ shot dribbled wide of the post.

Oliver Hulbert escaped his marker at the back post but could only head wide as Gloucester carved out their first chance of the second period.

A spell of sustained pressure from Moors ended with Tait finding space at the back post following a recycled corner, only for his lofted effort to clip the bar.

In what was a brighter second 45 minutes, Dylan Barkers forced Amissah into a rare moment of action when he pushed his goal bound shot around the post.

Little occurred in the way of incident until the 84^th minute when substitute Mark Anderson had a header superbly saved by Armstrong, before Anderson spurned a golden opening when he lofted a cross behind with options available.

Matt Green should have done better late on when Hulbert nicked the ball from Curtis in the penalty area, but he skewed his shot wide of the post.

The Brewery Field almost witnessed academy product Charlie Hindson snatch a winner in injury time, but Armstrong sped off his line to deny a certain winner.