Shildon manager Gary Forrest said that he felt “badly let down” by his players after they were beaten 2-1 at home by Consett on Saturday.

Shildon missed a great chance to increase their seven point lead at the top, as they found a 2-0 half time deficit too much to overcome.

“I feel as if the players let me down big style,” fumed Forrest. “In the first half we had no desire, no energy and no focus. We improved during the second half, although our quality in the final third was poor. After our next game we will be a third of the way through the league campaign and that is when we normally review our squad and determine who has the same desire as the management team in achieving our goals.

“Every other team has signed and sold players already, but we prefer to take stock after a third of the season. We have also identified a few players that may be worth bringing to the club.”

Consett took the lead after 6 minutes when Ryan King headed in a Danny Craggs corner, and then Michael Sweet fired his 7th league goal of the season. Consett missed a couple more chances before they had Dean Briggs sent off, and in stoppage time Marc Doninger scored a consolation for Shildon.

Consett manager Colin Myers said; “I was a little worried going into the game about the number of injuries that we had. We did well in the fist half, and second half was backs to the wall, but the referee gave some very strange decisions. Stonewall penalty, disallowed goal, sending off and ten minutes of stoppage time. I was proud of the way in which the lads battled.”

Guisborough lost 1-0 at North Shields, Dean Holmes scoring eight minutes after half time finishing off a good move involving four players. However, Guisborough almost equalised, but Danny Earl’s shot was cleared off the line.

Shields are now up to ninth.

Guisborough manager Chris Hardy said; “Due to the lack of goalscoring opportunities created by ourselves, this didn't give me enough confidence to be able to say that we deserved to win this fixture, that being said I thought we controlled the majority of the game with patient and structured build up and for these reasons I also don't believe we deserved to be on the losing end of a very competitive and evenly matched encounter.”

North Shields assistant manager Andy Bowman said; “I thought we were defensively sound and looked dangerous going forward. It was a fantastic win against one of the top sides. Another clean sheet as well.”

Champions Marske United were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Dunston UTS but are still second. Marske took the lead through Jamie Owens from a Glen Butterworth pass on 13 minutes, and they had the better of the first half, but after half time Dunston improved, and they levelled eight minutes from time with a header by Malky Morien.

Marske manager Carl Jarrett said; “It as a very tough game, and a draw was a fair result. We had the better of the first half and they raised their game in the second.”

Dunston UTS manager Carl Jarrett said; “It was a hard fought game. We dominated the second half. We need to kick on now.”

In the second division, Northallerton missed a chance to go fourth when they were held to a goalless draw by Alnwick.

Northallerton manager Danny Mellanby said; “I was pleased with the performance, we just couldn’t score.”

Willington have now failed to win any of their last 13 matches after they lost 2-0 at Brandon, for whom James Ellis scored a goal in each half.

Ryhope CW are now up to fifth with a good 3-0 home win over Billingham Town. Damien Stevens put them into an early lead, then Lee Chapman added two more.

Billingham Town manager Barry Oliver said; “I think they were flattered by the 3-0 score scoreline. We played some good stuff today but once again we gave them a silly goal starts. That isn’t good enough and I’ve told my players. We need to bring fresh players into the club, and we will do more to make things more efficient on the pitch.”

Thornaby won 1-0 at Ryton and Crawcrook, Nathan Steel scoring the goal. Kieran Edwards also missed a penalty.

Thornaby manager Paul Edwards said; “A deserved three points in the end. We missed a penalty and had a lot of chances, I was relieved at the end.”

Birtley moved up to fourth bottom with a 3-1 home win over Esh Winning. Damon Ellis scored twice early in the game, before Luke Thompson pulled a goal back. Andrew Clarkson made it 3-1 to Birtley in the second half.

Birtley manager Tony Boakes said; “I was pleased with the three points today, we battled well.”

Esh Winning manager Chris Blakelock said; “Three really bad errors at the back for the three goals and we just couldn’t get back in the game. We played some good stuff, but it was a day of individual errors.”