Last minute penalty save puts West third

Atkinson, signed as a replacement for the departed Mark Bell, pushed an Andy Johnson spot kick against the post to lift West into third place, preserve victory and West’s slim hopes of catching the top two.

West boss Peter Dixon, who was unhappy with a yellow card given to striker Stuart Banks for simulation in the Bishops’ box when he appeared to be on the receiving end of a reckless tackle, said: “Since I took over three years ago, we’ve never lost to Bishop Auckland, so I was doubly delighted with the penalty save. The lads on the bench teased Neal as he was preparing to face the penalty, asking quite loudly if he was enjoying his debut! Again, the players showed plenty of character to come back from two goals down.”

Bishops took the lead after 6 minutes when Kieran Megran found space in the area to slot the ball past Atkinson, and after Andy Johnson smashed a right foot shot against the bar, former West player Dale Jardine won the ball inside the Bishop area and chipped the keeper for the second.

But then West rolled up their sleeves and scored three before half time. Richard Paxton swept the ball home from six yards from a free kick, then Mattie Moffat dispossessed a defender and nutmegged Peter Jeffries for his 15th league goal of the season. Some trickery by John Campbell on the right helped him cross for Banks to head in from six yards.

They got a fourth at the start of the second half when Elliott Gardner turned in a low Campbell cross at the near post, and they missed two more easy chances. Johnson pulled one back with an effort from the edge of the area, and in the last minute he was tripped in the box and a penalty awarded, but Atkinson dived low to his left to save his spot kick.

Bishop Auckland manager Colin Myers said: “I don’t think we deserved to get anything out of the game, because our defending was very poor at times. We gifted them three goals. We’ve still got a chance of finishing third, just like West, but it’s usually about this time of year when Whitley Bay come good. They might even catch the top two.”

Champions Spennymoor Town were held to a goalless draw at home by Bedlington to slip nine points behind leaders Darlington, but they still have five games in hand and are unbeaten in 22 league games.

Moors hit the woodwork through Wayne Phillips and Joe Walton in the first half, but Bedlington were hard to break down.

Moors rallied again near the end, and Gavin Cogdon had a 20 yarder tipped over the bar by Jack Norton, while Micky Rae put a glancing header just wide near the end.

Despite dropping two points, Moors have now kept 15 clean sheets this season.

Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley said: “I’m happy with the effort and commitment of my players. If we had scored in the first half, I could only see one winner as they sat very deep. We were camped in their half in the second half but just couldn’t get the breakthrough, but it’s another clean sheet. For a side with the quality they have to play with five at the back surprised me but they got the result they wanted, but they really should be challenging at the top.”

League leaders Darlington won 3-0 at bottom of the table South Shields, with goals by Gary Brown, Amar Purewal and Joe Tait.

Read Craig Stoddart’s match report on the Northern Echo website Darlington FC section.

Newton Aycliffe climbed further away from the bottom two with an excellent 3-1 away win at Consett.

They took the lead with a good shot by Fred Woodhouse that took a deflection and beat Consett keeper Chris Elliott, and at the other end Aycliffe keeper Scott Pocklington kept his side in the lead by making an excellent save. Luke Sullivan put a penalty off target for Consett before they equalised with an effort from the edge of the box by Andy Cuthbertson.

However, Aycliffe rallied in the last five minutes, and regained the lead when sub Shaun Reay held the ball up well and set up Woodhouse to score from six yards, and then former Darlington player Reay scored his first goal for Aycliffe with a shot on the turn into the bottom corner of the net.

Newton Aycliffe manager Allan Oliver said: “Shaun Reay made a big difference when he came on, and it was another battling performance by us. It was a good job we won, because other clubs around us also did.”

Consett manager Kenny Lindoe said: "Defensive mistakes and a lack of firepower again proved costly. Their keeper should have got a red card when conceding the penalty which was subsequently missed. But two bad defensive errors cost us at 1-1 when we were pushing for the winner."

Durham City’s recent good run came to an end when they lost 3-2 at fourth bottom Penrith. Martyn Coleman put Penrith into the lead after 43 minutes, and score the second just after half time through Stephen Rigg. The game was held up for 10 minutes because of an injury to the referee, and he had to be replaced by one of his assistants, and in turn, a spectator volunteered to run the line for the rest of the match.

Scott Allison made it 3-0 to Penrith, before Durham staged a late rally with two goals by Scott Fenwick.

Durham manager Adam Furness said: “It was a really disappointing performance. After our recent good run, we were below par for an hour. The heavy pitch didn’t help, but credit to Penrith for taking their chances. We need to bounce back quickly.”

Billingham Town pulled Newcastle Benfield closer to the relegation zone by beating them 2-1 at Bedford Terrace.

They took the lead after 9 minutes when Nicky Martin scored from a Harrison Davies pass, and they missed further chances to go 2-0 up. Benfield’s Ian Graham levelled just after half time with a first time shot but Town recovered and scored the winner after 77 minutes when Josh McDonald crossed for Martin, under pressure from a defender, to score his 12th league goal of the season.

Billingham Town manager Carl Jarrett said: “We dominated the first half and I thought we played some good stuff. Dan Molyneux made two good saves but other than that should we should have got two or three goals before half time. We got sloppy and let them back into it, but we showed great character to come back into the game and win it.”

Newcastle Benfield manager Anthony Woodhouse said: “We were awful throughout, and they’re very worrying times for the club. There are changes imminent as the squad isn’t strong enough.”

Two teams with Vase ties on Saturday week, Ashington and Dunston, drew 1-1 at Woodhorn lane.

After plenty of chances in the first half, Ashington took the lead on 56 minutes when a shot by Andy Dugdale fell for Greg Bainbridge to beat Luke Connell in the Dunston goal.

However, Dunston stretched their unbeaten run to 14 league and cup matches when Steve Preen scored from a left wing cross by Lee McAndrew.

Ashington assistant manager Perry Briggs made the long trip down to the west country in order to watch Vase opponents Bodmin, but the game was postponed when he got there.

Dunston manager Billy Irwin said: “A draw was a fair result on a very poor pitch. Credit to both teams.”

Hebburn reinforced their position in the top eight with a 4-0 home win over Billingham Synthonia. Tony Stephenson gave them the lead from a Lee Harrison cross after 10 minutes, then Scott Robson got the second with a 25 yarder. Stephen Forster scored the third with a deep cross that deceived Synners keeper James Montgomery, then he set up Stuart Nicholson to grab the fourth soon after half time.

Hebburn manager Paul Bennett said: “After nearly three weeks without a game the lads adapted really well. Billingham played very well but never really threatened us. We were clinical in front of goal and probably could have scored a few more. The players deserve all the credit for a thoroughly professional performance.”

Billingham Synthonia assistant manager Lee Tucker said: “We had too many key players missing today, and we gave away four goals through mistakes. Not a good recipe to get three points.”

Sunderland RCA drew 3-3 with Guisborough after leading 2-0 at one stage. The RCA led with two goals by Gary Shaw in the first 20 minutes, but Guisborough pulled a goal back when Mikey Roberts was fouled in the area and Jamie Poole scored from the spot. Lewis Wood equalised with a shot that was deflected past the RCA keeper, then a cross by Gary Wood went through a crowd of players and ended up in the net. But the RCA levelled through Aristote Guerin-Lokonga who dribbled through and fired past Guisborough keeper Danny Dixon.

Sunderland RCA manager Neil Hixon said: “We were cruising at 2-0, and then suddenly were 3-2 down with a penalty and two own goals! Unbelievable.”

Guisborough manager Chris Hardy said: “This was a good performance from the boys with lots of positives and given the fact we have taken four points from SRCA this season against no points taken last season, this tells me we are making the strides that are needed.”

Celtic Nation and Team Northumbria also shared six goals in a 3-3 draw. CN went 2-0 up through Graeme Lee and a John Sherlock own goal, but Peter Watling pulled a goal back. CN went 3-1 up through a Michael Reed header, but Watling and Mark Fenwick hit back for TN.

Celtic Nation manager Steve Skinner said: “It wasn’t the best of games, and you could tell it was the first game after Christmas, plus it was difficult for us as it was the first thing we’d done for three weeks.”

In the second division, leaders Crook Town came from behind to pick up three valuable points at fellow promotion challengers Jarrow Roofing.

Roofing took the lead when former Crook striker Andy Appleby pounced on a rebound, but Crook full back Dave Gordon equalised with a cross-cum-shot from the left.

Liam McBryde restored roofing’s lead with a header, but Crook replied again when Warren Byrne’s shot from the edge of the box was deflected into the net off Kyle Davis.

Roofing had a strong penalty claim turned down, before Robbie Bird fired the winner for Crook into the bottom corner.

Crook manager Gary Pearson said: “I thought we wanted to win the game more than them, but they should have had a penalty. A draw would have been a fair result.”

Jarrow Roofing manager Richie McLoughlin said: “Two 100 per cent penalties to us were given by the linesman but the referee. They cost us.”

Darren Atkinson, the new permanent manager of second bottom Horden, saw his side lose 5-0 at promotion chasing Ryhope CW, for whom Chris Winn scored his third hat trick of the season. He scored the first two goals of the game before half time, and after the break, Michael Charlton and Jonny Butler got two more before Winn completed his hat trick. Winn has now scored 30 league goals for the season, while Butler has scored 34.

Seaham Red Star stayed well in touch with the leaders, winning 2-1 at Whickham. Channon North put them into an early lead , with Kris Goss making it 2-0 just after half time. Andrew Snaith pulled a goal back for the home side.

Seaham manager Mark Collingwood said “We deserved the victory. My players wanted it more than theirs, and my only disappointment was that we didn’t win the game earlier. The players were magnificent.”

Whickham manager Robin Falcus said: “There wasn’t much in the game. There was little between the teams apart from Seaham taking their chances and Whickham not. We deserved a point but on the positive side, we had the lads giving their all.”

Tow Law finally won their first home game of the season, defeating neighbours Esh Winning 3-0. Mattie Scott gave them a great start in the opening minutes, and he scored his 13th league goal of the season soon after the restart. Lawyers were home and dry when Esh defender Craig Garthwaite scored an own goal.

Tow Law manager Gary Anderson said: “It was a very good win that was thoroughly deserved. We’re delighted with the first home win, it’s been a long time coming!”

Esh Winning manager Brian Maitland said: “It’s a new start, just like pre-season. I had 22 players to pick from and it will take a while to get stability.”

The result of the day was lowly Brandon’s 2-1 home win over promotion chasing Northallerton, who suffered only their second away league defeat of the season. Carl Chillingsworth put Northallerton into the lead on 49 minutes, but Glen Hendrix and Andrew Blackburn hit back for the home side to record only their fifth win of the season.

Northallerton manager Mark Fanning said: “It was a totally unacceptable performance and attitude. Too many players were either not prepared to treat this game with the desire and passion required or think they are better than they are. I have spent enough time defending them but that stops now.”

Darlington RA suffered what could be a club record defeat, getting thrashed 9-1 at Morpeth. Home striker Micky Chilton became the fourth player to score five in a league game this season, with Steven Anderson (2), Eddie and Jordan Fry getting the others. Jim Muir replied from the spot for the RA in the first half, when they trailed 6-1 at half time.

Darlington RA manager Nick Harrison said: “It was a lesson in how not to defend. It was the worst performance since I took over by a country mile.”

North Shields were also amongst the goals, scoring six without reply at Thornaby. They swept Thornaby aside in the first half scoring through Rob Nolan (2), Dean Holmes and Keith Douglas, and after the break sub Kieran Wrightson scored two more.

Thornaby manager Neil Radigan said; “It was an embarrassing performance, and not good enough. We had a lack of quality. It was the worst I’ve seen this season and changes will be made.”

Birtley won for the first time in 16 games when they won 2-0 at Ryton and Crawcrook, their victory giving them a seven point breathing space over the bottom two. Birtley keeper Andy Hunter saved a Paul King penalty in the first half, and Birtley took the lead when Scott Wallace scored from a corner. They got their second when defender Callum Turnbull put a corner into his own goal.

Birtley manager Scott Oliver said: “Our keeper made a great penalty save on half time and we had a touch of luck for a change. The lads worked really hard.”

Chester-le-Street beat Whitehaven 2-1. Michael Pattison score the first goal from a rebound off the Whitehaven keeper, but the Cumbrians levelled with a Sam Smith penalty following a foul by Shaun Smith.

But Chester got the winner when Whitehaven defender Dave Lewis turned a Pattison cross into his own net.

Chester-le-Street manager Colin Wake said: “It was a well deserved three points after a hard fought win. We could have made the game safe in the first half and again in the second but we had to defend well in the last twenty minutes as Whitehaven threw everything at us.”

The league has revealed that two clubs, Willington and Heaton Stannington, have applied for membership next season, but they will need to finish in a promotion position and have a ground up to standard.

In the Evostik League, Whitby had an excellent 5-2 away win at Marine to put them five points above the relegation zone. Graeme Armstrong (2), Craig Farrell (2) and Stephen Snaith got the goals.

Blyth also had a good win, defeating Matlock 2-1 at Croft Park, Wayne Buchanan and an own goal their scorers.