Easington gave themselves a chance of avoiding the drop when they beat Seaham Red Star 1-0 in their bottom three battle, David Paul scoring the winner just three minutes from the end.

Easington general manager Andy Colledge said: “There was a much better atmosphere around the ground, and that gave us a big lift. We’ve another big game coming up next Saturday against Brandon.”

Team Northumbria stretched their lead at the top to fifteen points with a 1-0 away win at North Shields. Lee Scott put TN into the lead after 18 minutes, with Peter Watling and Scott both hitting the bar. James Harmison had a header cleared off the line in the second half for Shields, who were denied an equaliser when TN keeper Andrew Jennison handled outside his box to prevent Dean Holmes from equalising, and was therefore sent off.

North Shields manager Anthony Woodhouse said; “Very windy day ruined the game but I thought a draw would have been a fair result. Take nothing away from TN - they battled well and deserved the 3 points.” TN manager Paul Johnson said; "I thought we got three good points out of a hard fought game. The wind created problems for both teams throughout but we dealt with the conditions better and controlled the game. In the first half we hit the crossbar twice and post once so were unlucky to be only 1-0 up at the interval. In the second half we played better against the wind on the counter and created more chances, but their keeper was equal to them. On a whole it was three points we had to win with Shields being in the running, so glad we got the job done."

Darlington RA had a bad day, losing 2-0 at Morpeth, which saw them drop a place to third. Ashley McAlpine and Connor Andrews scored the goals for Morpeth.

Darlington RA manager Nick Harrison said: “It was very disappointing. First half was a slow and poor quality game of football. Second half the first goal killed us and three weeks without a game showed as we couldn’t lift our performance. Morpeth were fitter and stonger. We'll write it off as a bad day and hopefully be sharper for it come Wednesday night.”

Gillford Park’s new signing Gavin Barton ran riot against Thornaby, scoring four in their 7-2 win to put them into second. Ryan Errington, Lee Hoolickin and Michael reed scored the other goals for Gillford, who only led 2-0 at half time. Lee Farrington and Mark Lilley scored late on for Thornaby, who have conceded 14 goals in their last two matches.

Thornaby manager Ray Morton said: “It was 2-0 at half time. It was a fairly even first half, although due to 2 injuries we played over 15 minutes with 10 men. In the second half, the young players tired but we continued to try play football. Disappointing result, decent performance from 4/5 players. We have a six pointer midweek against Brandon.”

Esh Winning won 1-0 at Alnwick, even though they played for 80 minutes with ten men after Scott Richards was sent off for a foul. Kieran Megran scored the only goal of the game just before half time.

Esh Winning manager Andrew Soppitt said; “I didn't see the sending off after 5 minutes but with 10 men first half against the wind we were by far the better team and I was disappointed to be only 1 up. Second half we tired but again should have wrapped things up when we caught them on the break.”

Hebburn manager Paul Bennett kept his players in the dressing room for a post match inquest after they were beaten 2-1 at home in their local derby against Birtley. The visitors took the lead through Dan Smart on the hour, with Steve Foster quickly equalising. However, Smart popped up with the winner with just four minutes left, his 21st league goal of the season. Scott Barrett was red carded for Birtley.

Hebburn manager Paul Bennett said: “We were disappointing yet again. No complaints again. Birtley deserved their win. Out fought and out worked us. Team meeting held after game to thrash out issues, and so we hope to bounce back Tuesday against Whickham.”

Birtley manager Scott Oliver said: “We looked solid today Dan Smart was the difference, he was outstanding. We bounced back well after Wednesday night.”

Northallerton ended their four game losing streak when they picked up a point in a good 3-3 draw at West Allotment. Gary Day put Allotment into the lead from a corner, with Shaun Reid making it 2-0 just after half time. Peter Bulmer pulled a goal back with a deflected shot, with Stuart Jackson equalising. Day made it 3-2 with eight minutes left, but Carl Chillingsworth equalised in the dying minutes.

Northallerton manager Mark Fanning said: “It was difficult for both sides in blustery conditions. It was nice to end the run of defeats and could have nicked it at the end.”

Horden are still too close to the bottom for comfort after they were beaten 1-0 at Washington, Jake Leighton scoring the winner with four minutes left.

Horden manager Bobby Orton said: “We went a bit flat at the wrong time of the game with ten minutes left. We never deserved to lose because we worked our socks off. Every one of my players played very well. It’s tough at the bottom.”

Crook failed to build on their midweek romp against Thornaby by drawing 1-1 against Brandon at the Millfield. Robbie Bird gave Crook the lead with 20 minutes left, but Lee Tinkler levelled for Brandon with six minutes left.

Crook manager Gary Pearson said: “Disappointed that it 2 points lost. Brandon worked really hard and apart from heading on to bar in first five minutes never troubled us! Great impact from subs Kyle Davis and Robbie Bird who scored with his first touch! It was totally different from Wednesday – it was a case of after the Lord Mayor’s show.”

Whickham and Chester-le-Street drew 1-1 at the Glebe. Callum Patton put Chester into the lead, but Lawrence McKenna equalised for Whickham.

Whitehaven striker Leigh Dunn scored a hat trick their 3-1 win at Ryton and Crawcrook to give him 19 league goals for the season. Paul Kane replied for Ryton.