Bishop Auckland manager Steve Riley was furious after his side failed to capitalise on a penalty and a sending off in their 3-1 defeat at Seaham Red Star on Saturday.

Bishops are only seven points above the relegation zone and Riley said that his team’s second half performance was “unacceptable”.

“We played well in the first half and looked like we would really capitalise on their sending off, as after we scored it was one-way traffic. Unfortunately we missed a penalty before half time which would have killed the game.

Second half we weren’t precise enough or showed enough quality on the ball in the final third, and we got caught on the counter attack twice. We conceded two poor goals and the players have been made aware that this isn’t acceptable by my standards, and I want to see a positive reaction in our next game.”

Bishops fell behind on 10 minutes to a free kick into the top corner by recent signing David Paul, but Bishops levelled through Andy Johnson from an Ian Ward cross. Bishops missed a great chance to take the lead when Johnson was fouled, but Seaham keeper Shaun Newbrook saved his penalty. Paul was then dismissed for elbowing to reduce Seaham to ten men.

Craig Lynch put Seaham back in front in a goalmouth scramble, and then Robbie Bird made it 3-1 from a Paul Kane cross.

West Auckland are out of the bottom four for the first this season after they won 1-0 at Bedlington.

Chris Emms put them in front with a good free kick early in the game, and he could have added another before half time, but he was denied by Bedlington keeper Dan Staples.

West manager Andy Campbell said; “The win capped a great week for us after our win in the Durham Challenge Cup on Thursday night. Chris has bags of quality, he’s always dangerous at setpieces.”

Norton are now level points with Bedlington thanks to a good 3-0 home win over Consett, their second victory in a week.

After a goalless first half, Thibault Charmey fired Norton into the lead on 57 minutes, then Stephen Jackson scored a good second from 25 yards. Nicky Martin then rounded the keeper for the third. Consett had midfielder Jordan Lavery sent off.

Because of Norton’s victory, there are now only three points covering the bottom six.

Norton manager Deano Browne said; “We played really well against a strong Consett side. Our back four were brilliant and we took our chances when we had to. The lads listened to the gameplan we set and it worked well.”

Consett manager Colin Myers said; “We were outworked and outbattled all over the pitch. Norton fully deserved their won.”

Leaders Shildon are still five points clear at the top of the table after they won 3-0 at Durham.

They took the lead with a strike by Anthony Bell from a Lewis Dodds pass, and after Micky Rae and Ben Wood both went close, Rae headed the second from a right wing corner.

Bell then missed a penalty for Shildon when Durham keeper Thomas Flynn pushed the ball around the post, but they still managed to score a third with another Rae shot.

Harvey Saunders pulled a goal back for Durham, who are now fifth bottom, near the end.

Shildon manager Gary Forrest said; “I thought we played well in spells, but took our foot off the gas.”

Durham manager Chris Moore said; “We played against a good team today, but it was good to learn about the players when they were challenged, so we learned who can stand up to that challenge. We’ll take the positives and build towards the next game.”

Guisborough scored twice in the last ten minutes to beat Ashington 2-0 at the King George and go six points clear of third placed Morpeth.

There were chances at both ends until Guisborough took the lead with nine minutes left when Stephen Snaith curled the ball from 15 yards into the top corner, and with a minute to go Curtis Round made a good run down the left and crossed for Danny Earl to score from six yards.

Guisborough manager Steve Dowling said; “It was a tough game against a very good Ashington side. They shaded the first half in blustery conditions, but I thought we had better of the second half. Maybe a draw was a fair result, but two good goals sealed the points for us.”

Marske United won 3-2 at Penrith, and are now level on points with Dunston in fifth place.

Marske took the lead with a 30 yard free kick by Nathan Mulligan on 17 minutes , and he added a second before half time.

Martyn Coleman pulled a goal back with a penalty for Penrith, but Jamie Owens pounced on a mistake to make it 3-1. Kevin Connelly pulled a goal back from distance near the end.

Washington are up to fourth after a 2-1 home win over West Allotment. Mark Davison put them into the lead from a rebound after 5 minutes, then midway through the half Anthony Callaghan, who has just returned to the club from Darlington, set up Mark Davison to score the second.

Allotment pulled a goal back through Dean Deagle, but couldn’t force the equaliser.

Washington manager Steve Hutchinson said; “we’re happy with the win. We could have put the game out of sight in the first half with the chances we had, but the main thing is that we got the three points.”

Newton Aycliffe suffered a poor 4-0 home defeat to Jarrow Roofing.

Roofing took the lead with a 25 yarder by Shaun Vipond, and then Richie Paxton produced an excellent finish for the second before half time.

James Fairley scored his the third when he broke through and beat Aycliffe keeper Lewis Brass, then Callum Patton then scored his first league goal for Roofing.

Newton Aycliffe manager Peter Dixon said; “We think we just need to turn up in order to win the game. We read too much into who we are playing. We got what we deserved again today, absolutely nothing.”

Whitley Bay moved up two places to sixth from bottom when they won 2-1 at Newcastle Benfield.

Chris Youlden gave Whitley the lead with a mishit shot before half time, and nine minutes after half time, Sam Norris scored from a Paul Kane cross.

Whitley defender Richard Flynn put a right wing cross into his own net for Benfield’s goal.

Newcastle Benfield joint manager Mark Convery said; “We were outplayed and outfought. We’re massively disappointed by the performance.”

Whitley Bay manager Paddy Atkinson said; “It was a heavy pitch and a battle. We missed a few chances but came out on top in the end.”

In the second division, leaders South Shields easily beat Whickham 5-0.

Shields took the lead when Lee Scroggins scored from a David Foley corner, then Lewis Teasdale fired the second into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Teasdale made it 3-0 with a header from another Foley corner before half time.

Recent signing Ibby Hassan got the fourth with a header, and with eight minutes left, Julio Arca sent Warren Byrne away for the fifth. Shields are still six points clear at the top.

Second placed Ryhope CW also scored five, beating Ryton and Crawcrook 5-1 away from home. Nathan O’Neill scored the first after just eight minutes, and he scored the second five minutes after half time. Damien Stevens, Josh Home-Jackson and Matty Weirs scored further goals, before Carl Piecha scored a late consolation.

Ryhope CW manager Gary Pearson said; “It was the bounceback we needed after last week’s lack lustre performance. It was a solid performance which would have been faultless other than the late goal conceded. The back four and goalkeeper were solid, the midfielder never lost a header or a tackle all game and there were chances created by the front lads. The ups and downs of management.”

Chester-le-Street dropped from third to fourth, because they were beaten by a last minute winner at home to Hebburn.

Calvin McMahon gave Hebburn the lead, and Chester seemed to have earned a point when Andrew Grant-Soulsby’s equaliser. However, Chris Smith scored a last minute winner from a corner.

Chester-le-Street manager Colin Wake said; “It was a very disappointing performance. We huffed and puffed and dominated the second half without being brilliant. We pushed for the game and conceded a poor late goal from a corner deep into injury time.”

Hebburn manager Scott Oliver said; “I’m very proud of the players. Our two centre halves headed more balls today than they do in a month. Chester have improved massively this season.”

Billingham Synthonia are now third instead after they won 2-1 at Easington Sam Garvie crossed for Chris Dickinson to head in after 20 minutes, and they held on to that one goal lead until they made it 2-0 with eight minutes left, when Dickinson opened up the defence for Macauley Langstaffe to score the second. Aiden Heywood headed a late consolation for Easington.

Northallerton are up to sixth courtesy of a good 3-1 away win at Thornaby.

Andy Ramsbottom fired into the top corner to give Northallerton the lead, then Damon Reaks pounced on a mistake for the second before half time. Reaks made it 3-0 after he took advantage of a mistake in the Thornaby defence, before Sonny Andrews scored a late consolation.

Northallerton manager Darren Trotter said; “I was proud of the team, they got what they deserved. Everyone played their part which is very pleasing due to the inactivity for the past few weeks.”

Darlington RA’s promotion chances are slowly disappearing after they lost 4-2 at home to Heaton Stannington, after being 1-0 and 2-1 up. Rob Moncur and Sam England scored for the RA, with Sam Grieveson, Adam Rowntree, Shane Jones and Jordan Ray scoring for Heaton.

Heaton Stannington assistant manager Geoff Walker said; “We started off really well, we went 1-0 up then two bad defensive mistakes put us 2-1 down. We picked ourselves up and went 3-2 at half time. I thought we controlled the second half and added a fourth. Our keeper still had to make a couple of decent saves. Overall though, I thought we thoroughly deserved the three points.”

Darlington RA manager Warren Moncur said; “It was a real end-to-end game, and I thought we deserved something out of it. We created lots of chances but didn’t take them.”

Billingham Town have now won four league games in a row after they beat Crook Town 4-1 at Bedford Terrace. Callum Croker, Drew Lambert put Billingham 2-0 up, before Josh Bynoe pulled one back. However, Joel Callender and Bradlee Popple scored more goals in the second half.

Billingham Town manager Barry Oliver said; “I was happy with the result apart from the first 25 minutes in the second half when we allowed them to get back into the game. A lesson to be learned, but we’ll move on now and prepare for an in form Northallerton team.”

Crook manager Tony Boakes said; “It was a poor team performance, Billingham were better than us all over the pitch.”

At the bottom, Stokesley lost 4-0 to Team Northumbria, for whom Gerard Richardson (2), Luke Hannant and Robert Spence scored the goals. Team North are now up to fifth.

Stokesley manager Craig Winter said; “the game was won in the first 30 minutes when we didn’t turn up. There were big positives from the squad though.”

Willington won their first away game of the season by beating Esh Winning 4-2. Lewis Martin and Corey Nicholson put Willington 2-0 up, but Kris Goss and Liam Clark levelled for Esh. However, Willington finished the stronger, and Lewis Milner and Will Preston scored for them.

Esh Winning manager Keith Brown said; “It was a massively disappointing result. We weren’t at the races and got caught cold early in both halves. It left us wit ha lot to do. Credit to Willington, they battled hard and deserved the win.”

Willington manager Gary Innes said; “It was a brilliant performance on a very difficult pitch.”

Tow Law had a good 3-1 home win over Alnwick. Adam Knowles, Dean Thexton and David Parker scored for Tow Law, with James Jackson replying for Alnwick.

Tow Law manager Steve Murray said; “They were difficult conditions, bit a good win. Only 5 defeats in the last 20 now, so got to be happy.”

There was only one game called off, between Sunderland RCA and North Shields.