EBAC Northern League Stokesley parted company with manager Monty Alexander after their 2-0 home defeat by Ryhope CW on Saturday.

Alexander was in his fourth season in charge, but after winning at Darlington RA on the opening day, they have failed to win their last two league games.

Stokesley chairman Dave Watson said; “The club felt that we need to freshen things up on the playing front. The Committee thank him for his efforts during his tenure and wish him well for the future.

The current coaching staff will take charge of team affairs on a caretaker basis.”

Andy Appleby scored a goal in each half to give Ryhope their first win of the season.

Stokesley assistant manager Nicky Ward said; “Two poor keeping errors cost us a point.”

Ryhope CW manager Gary Pearson said; “It was a much better performance, and we deserved to win the game. I was very happy to see Andy Appleby score twice to get his season underway. More importantly the back four and goalkeeper were excellent and deserved their clean sheet.”

Team Northumbria are top of the table thanks to a 2-0 home win over Chester-le-Street, David Luke scoring the goals after 3 and 43 minutes. TN have won all three games this season.

Chester-le-Street manager Colin Wake said; “We were well and truly beaten by an excellent side who passed and moved the ball really well. We had a few words at half time and second half we were a lot better and a lot brighter when we pressed higher and created a few chances. All in all, the better side won definitely in the first half anyway.”

Esh Winning scored their first goal of the season, but they were still beaten 5-1 at home by Alnwick, which means that they have now conceded 21. Esh were level 1-1 at one point, but Alnwick exposed mistakes in the Esh defence. Adam Shanks scored a hat trick for Alnwick, with Brad McLelland and Keith Douglas getting the others. Alan Young scored for Esh.

Esh Winning manager Michael Johnson said; “We started off superbly, should have been four or five up at half time, but then silly mistakes cost us once again.”

Darlington RA are still winless after they lost 3-0 at home to Ryton and Crawcrook.

Callum Turnbull put Ryton into the lead, then Steve Cheeseman was shown a red card. Phil Hodges and Leigh Shickle scored again for Ryton.

Darlington RA manager Paul Bowman said; “The changes we made to the formation because of holidays and injuries caused us problems. The score was a fair result and we let ourselves down again.”

Tow Law led 2-0 against Birtley, but lost 3-2. Lawyers looked comfortable with goals by Shaun Ryder and Anthony Lee, although Craig Suggett missed a penalty for Birtley in the first half. But Daniel Maddison scored twice in ten minutes at the start of the second half. Former Lawyers player Jonny Hewitson got the winner with ten minutes left.

Tow Law manager Gary Anderson said; “We went 2-0 up and rode our luck a little, but should have gone in a few more up. Second half we didn’t come out and lacked effort all over bar one or two players and deserved to be beaten.”

Birtley manager Tony Boakes said; “It was a great come back from 2-0 down at half time to win 3-2. It was a fantastic team performance especially after Craig Suggett missed a penalty in the first half. We thought it wasn’t going to be our day.”

Norton are now up to third after a good 2-0 away win at Willington, Gary Mitchell scoring their goals on 43 and 75 minutes.

Norton manager Andy Campbell said; “Three well earned points, clean sheet and two really well taken goals. We need to carry this form going to keep progressing.”

Willington manager Rob Lee said; “We played some good football, the difference was the finishing. Two well taken goals from Norton, we didn’t take our chances.”

Thornaby’s good start came to an end when they lost 4-1 at Heaton Stannington. Lewis Burns, Paul Blakey and Lee Johnson put the Stann 3-0 up, and after Lee Bythway pulled a goal back, Gary Yates made it 4-1.

Thornaby manager Paul Edwards said; “I thought Heaton did very well and deserved the points. We conceded sloppy goals at critical times, we were well beaten. It was a wake up call.”

Heaton Stannington assistant manager Geoff Walker said; “We played really well. We could have been six or seven. We’re absolutely delighted. I hope it’s the kickstart we need. We had lots of pace in the side.”

South Shields easily beat Brandon 4-0 scoring all their goals in last half hour. David Molloy scored a hat trick, with Barrie Smith scoring the other.

In the only first division game to be played, Celtic Nation won their first game of the season by beating Bedlington 2-0. CN broke away from a Bedlington corner and Michael Reed opened the scoring, then Tyran Taylor headed the second midway through the second half. But for the second time in three games, CN had their keeper sent off, this time it was Adam Toward.

Bedlington manager Ian Skinner said; “We gave away two poor goals and although we enjoyed long periods of possession, we never really threatened the goal which is disappointing. We need to improve in the final third.”

In the Evo-Stik League premier division, Blyth beat Grantham 2-1 after a 15 minute delay because the referee, Paul Thompson, went off injured and was replaced by another official present at the game. Dan Maguire and Paul Robinson scored their goals.

Whitby lost 2-1 at Stourbridge, Liam Shepherd scoring their goal to make the score 1-1 at one point.