Bishop Auckland manager Colin Myers reckoned that his players were naïve when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Whitley Bay on Saturday.

Bishops were within minutes of a valuable three points and their second away win of the season when Whitley equalised and left Bishops sixth bottom of the table.

“At 1-0 you just see the game out,” said Myers. “We were very naïve and pushed for a second that we didn’t need, and that spoilt a very good performance. Shaun Ryder was excellent throughout and Tait made his debut in a solid performance.”

Bishops missed a couple of chances in the first half, while Ryder had a shot cleared off the line and they took the lead after 55 minutes when Andy Johnson intercepted a poor clearance by Whitley keeper Dan Lister and tapped into an empty net.

But in stoppage time Bishop keeper Scott Pocklington blocked a shot by Peter Glen-Ravenhill, and the ball fell kindly for Liam Brooks to score.

The point for Bishops was still enough to lift them nine points above the relegation zone.

Shildon lost their 100 per cent away league record when they were beaten 1-0 at league leaders Morpeth.

Billy Greulich-Smith and Adam Burnicle both went close for Shildon, and they were up against ten men just before half time when Morpeth defender Chris Reid was dismissed for his second yellow.

But Shildon couldn’t make their advantage tell despite hitting the bar through Jack Blackford, and Morpeth scored the winner on 76 minutes when Liam Henderson scored from a corner.

Shildon were also reduced to ten men when Matty Robson was dismissed for his second yellow.

Manager Danny Moore said; “We played really well, in fact it was the best we have played all season, but we couldn’t break them down and conceded from a setpiece.”

West Auckland recovered from their midweek defeat against Ryhope CW by comfortably beating bottom club Billingham Synthonia 4-0 at Darlington Road.

Anthony Bell and Ben Wood combined nicely to set up Paul Connor for the first, then Connor, who started the game because top scorer Nathan Fisher is injured, scored his second after Synners keeper Tom Dawson saved from Dan Parker.

Synners’ John Seaton missed a penalty before Connor completed his hat trick with a shot on the turn, then Adam Mitchell finished the scoring with a low shot.

West Auckland manager Gary Forrest said; “The lads were excellent, they showed what they’re capable of when everyone wants to play and compete. We need to take into Tuesday’s game now.”

West are now up to sixth in the table.

Newton Aycliffe dropped two places to fifth from bottom, after they were beaten 1-0 at home by Dunston UTS, who are now fifth.

Aycliffe conceded three penalties, two of which were saved by Aycliffe keeper Jack McLaren from Mark Fitzpatrick and Steven Anderson, but Anderson beat him with the second of the game.

Newton Aycliffe manager Deano Browne said; “It was a scrappy game that Dunston dominated until half time. We got into it second half and shaded it until the second penalty. We didn’t really look like scoring until we were denied a blatant penalty. Dunston were probably the better team for most of the game.”

In the second division, Tow Law are back on top of the table thanks to a good 2-1 away win at Thornaby.

The home side took the lead through a Mattie Robinson penalty, but Lawyers hit back with two goals by Lewis Teasdale, although Robinson hit the post with another penalty in between. Teasdale has now scored eleven league goals for the season.

Tow Law manager Steve Murray said; “It was a huge win, especially conceding early to a poor second minute penalty. We’re top of the league, so we’ve got to be happy.”

Northallerton are level with them on points but with a slightly worse goal difference after they beat Crook 2-1 at Ainderby Road.

Nicky Martin rounded the keeper to give them a sixth minute lead, then he scored the second from a Shaun Hudson pass on 16 minutes. Kyle Morris scored late on for Crook.

Northallerton manager Darren Trotter said; “We got a good reaction to last week’s slip up and scored two very well-worked goals and then should really have been out of sight by half time. We took our foot off the pedal in the second half, however it was another good win.”

Darlington RA were easily beaten 4-1 at Willington, for whom Matty Moffat and Jeff Smith scored a goal in each half. Mark Sims replied for the RA on the hour when the score was 2-0.

Darlington RA manager Peter Mulcaster said; “We were beaten by the better side apart from 20 minutes at the start of the second half. We were poor. I think it’s time to freshen things up with some new faces that I’ll be hoping to bring in this week.”

Willington manager Rob Lee said; “We scored some great goals, and Jason White had a great debut. Give Darlo their due, they never gave up.”

Durham City finished a good week by winning 1-0 at Bedlington to put them tenth, Callum Smith scoring the winner on 75 minutes.

Durham manager Olly Hotchkiss said; “We’re delighted with our win. The players worked extremely hard on a difficult playing surface against a very direct and robust side. The only real bit of quality in the game was our goal which was taken really well. On the balance of play I thought we shaded it in large parts and were the team that tried to play. My players deserve massive praise and must keep the standards high going forward.”

Chester-le-Street, who were thumped 6-0 in their previous league game, picked up a good point in a goalless draw at home to Easington.

Chester-le-Street manager Colin Wake said; “It was a much-improved performance shape-wise and we looked solid throughout. I thought it was an even first half and I thought we shaded the second but couldn’t find the elusive bit of quality in the final third. But I was much happier with the application and the endeavour of the side.”

Brandon, who are hoping to announce a new manager soon, lost 3-1 at Billingham Town, Ethan Grayson scoring for them.

Esh Winning had a dreadful day, trounced 8-0 at home by Whickham.