It's not a two horse race says Ainsley

Moors go into today’s game at Marske seven points behind Quakers, with Bedlington a further nine points back in third place. But despite the apparent superiority of the top two, Ainsley, who has managed Moors to three successive titles, feels that Moors and Quakers still won’t have it all their own way.

“There’s a huge amount of interest in the Northern League this season. Everywhere I go, people are talking about a two horse race between us and Darlington, and when we’re playing each other,” he said.

“But in some ways, I think that’s disrespectful to the other teams in the league, there are teams who can still come though and challenge the top two. There are some very good teams in this league apart from us and Darlington, and they can’t be ruled out.

“There’s probably more pressure on Darlington to go up than us, because they want to go back up the national system as quick as they can. If we don’t go up, then it won’t make much difference to us.

“Darlington have done very well so far, they’ve proved wrong those that thought they wouldn’t challenge at the top of the table. They’ve set the bar, and it’s up to us to keep challenging them, and keep doing what we’ve got to do. In some ways, they’re like Rangers in the Scottish Third Division, they’re a big club in a small league, and with big crowds behind them, then they need to go up.

“People keep saying that the pressure is on us to keep our run going and stay close to Darlington, but we’re used to it. The players continue to do a very professional job in every game they play – look at some of our recent results against Bishop Auckland and Bedlington, for example.

“Regardless of who wins the league and whether anyone goes up, the profile of the league has been raised significantly.”

The two leaders meet in the Brooks Mileson League Cup on Wednesday at Heritage Park – but whether both will be at full strength remains to be seen -- and in the league at Brewery Field in February. The league game at Heritage Park is yet to be arranged, after it was postponed because of Moors’ involvement in the FA Cup earlier in the season. The February game has been made all ticket.

Durham City are looking for a qualified physio to join their backroom team. Applications should be e mailed to Durhamcityafc@aol.com Sunderland RCA manager Neil Hixon believes that his rebuilding job is on scheduled after they drew 1-1 with unbeaten Spennymoor on Tuesday night.

The RCA came from behind in the second half to earn a point against the champions, and Hixon said: “It’s a stepping stone for us. We’ve moved a few players on recently and brought some in, and I’m hoping that the players gel together quickly.

“I’ve been playing makeshift teams recently so then I can find the right combination, and the team I fielded the other night did quite well. It looks as if the rebuilding is going to work.”

However, the draw cost the RCA two keepers the other night. Neal Atkinson was stretchered off early in the game, and his replacement, Craig Shields, suffered a thigh injury.

Billingham Town manager Carl Jarrett said that his team’s fightback against Bedlington in midweek was “absolutely top drawer”.

Town looked set for a heavy defeat when they trailed 4-1 after an hour, but they clinched a point with a rousing fightback.

“It as a great performance by our lads,” said Jarrett. “I can’t even try to tell anyone how this team plays, it’s all off the cuff.

“There were that many chances in the game, either team could have scored 7 or 8. It must have been a great game for a neutral to watch.

“From my point of view, it was a frustrating start to the game because we conceded some sloppy goals, but Glen Butterworth was out of this world for us, scoring a hat trick as we battled back in the second half.

“It was a good point against them, because I reckon they’re the best Bedlington team for a long time. The lads have done us proud, and their fightback was absolutely top drawer.”

Bishop Auckland manager Colin Myers blasted some of his players for a lack of passion following their 4-0 derby defeat at Spennymoor last Saturday.

Myers said before the game that Bishops had always given their neighbours a close game during his time in charge at Heritage Park, but he was fuming after the second half display provided the exception.

“The performance after half time was embarrassing, when Spennymoor went 3-0 up, the heads of some of my players went down, and there wasn’t much fight in them.

“Two players, Craig Hodgson and Chris Lawson, were throwing their bodies in the way, and if everybody else had shown the same attitude then we would have been ok. Too many players accepted defeat too easily – how can that happen in a derby game? That’s unacceptable. I’m not saying that we would have won the game, but what I am saying is that I expected more commitment and more passion from my players.”

Meanwhile, Bishops could see more of former Hartlepool striker Callum Hassan, who came on as a sub against Spennymoor.

“He was a threat to their defence with his height and his strength. He’s had a lot of clubs before he’s come to us, maybe he just needs somebody to sit down with him and keep him right.”

Shildon manager Gary Forrest refuses to believe that the title race is between Darlington and Spennymoor.

Forrest believes that if Shildon can regain their winning form after losing to Ashington in midweek, then they can still make an impression on the leaders.

“We have to keep on winning, and hope that at some stage, Darlington and Spennymoor will go through a stuttering spell at some stage. They’re going to drop points some time, because they’ve got each other to play twice.

“Plus, we still have to play them twice each. If we win our games in hand, then we can go clear third. Our aim is to still be in with a chance going into the last ten games of the season.”

Northallerton manager Mark Fanning wants better defending from his team if they are to maintain their promotion push.

Second in the table Northallerton needed to win against Washington last Saturday to keep leaders Ryhope CW in sight, but instead they surprisingly lost 4-3 to Richie Latimer’s side.

“We just weren’t at the races,” said Fanning.

“Washington wanted to win the game more than our players – they shouldn’t be thinking that they just need to turn up in order to win. They must be prepared to work hard and graft all the way through games, they are qualities you need in order to be successful.

“I was disappointed with our defending. It starts at the front, all over the pitch, and unfortunately we didn’t see that happen last Saturday.

“It’s a learning exercise, but the players need to learn quickly.”

Stokesley are hoping to climb the table after winning their first home game for nearly two seasons last Saturday.

Stokesley won their basement battle against Alnwick by 4-0, to lift them nine points clear of the Northumberland side, their first win in the league at home since they beat Norton 2-0 in March 2011.

Stokesley have won twice in the league on their travels this season at Tow Law and Chester-le-Street, as well as Thornaby in the Vase.

Assistant manager Chris Lax said; “: “It was very pleasing to get our first home win of the season and hopefully that kicks starts us to many more. When we passed the ball about Alnwick couldn’t live with us and we should have won by a bigger margin. We’ve been so close to winning at home before, it was a great feeling to finally do it.”

Northern league chairman Mike Amos has carried out informal inspections at Heaton Stannington from the Northern Alliance and Willington from the Wearside League. Both clubs have intimated that they are considering applying for promotion at the end of the season, and sought guidance on what work needed to be done to bring their grounds up to standard, assuming that they finish in the top two of their leagues. Both clubs have previously been members of the Northern League, Heaton Stannington for seven seasons and Willington for 84.

Chester-le-Street manager Colin Wake is hoping that last Saturday’s 6-1 win over Esh Winning is the start of better things to come.

Last Saturday’s win was the best since Wake took over during the summer, and he’s hoping that the team’s inconsistencies will now end.

“The problem has been getting a settled side together, but that’s the problem you have at this level. The side keeps changing, but now we’ve got a lot of lads who can play week in and week out.

“It was a great victory, it’s been coming. Now it’s onwards and upwards. Apart from Ryhope CW, I don’t think there’s a great deal in this division. Everybody seems to be beating everybody else.”