Chester boss Wake blasts players after heavy defeat

Chester were relegated from the first division at the end of last season, but the anticipated push to regain that place hasn’t materialised, and instead they’re at the wrong end of the division with just three wins all season.

“I was disgusted at the second half performance,” fumed Wake. “We defended well against a strong wind in the first half and never came out second half as the players obviously thought that the game was theirs for the taking.

“They never did anything which was asked of them at half time and as a unit, and they got punished for a lack of discipline and poor decision making all over the pitch.

“Again, basic defensive mistakes were made and severely punished, unfortunately we aren’t learning.”

Playing against the wind, Chester restricted Hetton to just one goal before half time, scored by Shane Jones, but Heaton moved up a gear in the second half and went top of the table with goals by Abu Salim (2), Dan Robinson, Julian Petrache and Ryan Bailey.

In the first division, West Auckland came back from two goals down to draw at North Shields, to stay nicely in seventh place.

James Luccock gave Shields the lead from a Jordan Summerly pass, then Kevin Hughes got the second on the half hour from a corner.

But West rolled their sleeves up in the second half and got back into the game on 79 minutes, when Nathan Fisher fired into the top corner from the edge of the box, his 22nd league goal of the season, nine more than anybody else in the division.

And their efforts got them a deserved equaliser when Adam Mitchell’s left wing corner was headed in by Ross Colquhoun in the dying minutes.

West Auckland manager Gary Forrest said; “It was another good performance and if it wasn’t for their keeper we would have won the game. The players are showing amazing character.”

Shildon are still fourth in the table after beating Washington 2-1 at Dean Street.

They took the lead when a free kick by Jack Blackford was turned into his own net by Washington’s Andy Brown, and they went further ahead when Matty Robson curled home a free kick midway through the second half.

Washington caused a couple of nervous moments when Brown pulled a goal back from the spot, but Shildon held on for their fourth home win of the season.

Shildon manager Danny Moore said; “Since we went out of the FA Cup, we’ve played well and won all of our four matches. We could have scored more than twice.”

Bishop Auckland gave themselves some breathing space above the relegation zone when they beat Stockton Town 3-1 at Heritage Park.

Stockton took the lead through Freddie Woodhouse from a corner, but Shaun Ryder quickly equalised from close range. They took the lead with a Priestley Griffiths penalty after Harrison Scott was fouled on 19 minutes, and they went 3-1 up when Andy Johnson fired across goal and Ian Ward tapped in.

They could have won by a bigger margin if Johnson hadn’t missed a last minute penalty.

Bishop Auckland manager Colin Myers said; “A good first half put us in the driving seat, but credit to Stockton they made us work hard in the second half to get the win.”

Newton Aycliffe picked up a good away point in a 1-1 draw at Whitley Bay.

Both goals were scored in the space of a minute in the first half. Tom Potter put Whitley ahead from a Matty Cornish pass, but Aycliffe levelled immediately with a great strike by Stuart Banks that went in off the post.

Aycliffe hit the bar in the second half, and Whitley keeper Dan Lister made an outstanding save, but they also had defender Aaron Brown dismissed for a last man foul.

In the other second division games, Tow Law drew 3-3 at Blyth AFC.

Lawyers were two goals up at one stage both of them scored by Lewis Teasdale, but Blyth came back with goals by Steven Little, Dan Robinson and Bobby Taylor to lead 3-2 in the 70th minute. Dean Thexton levelled with ten minutes left to give Lawyers a point that put them into second.

Tow Law manager Steve Murray said; “It was a hard-fought point in difficult conditions.”

Northallerton missed a chance to go top when they were beaten 3-1 at Bedlington, Dan Jones scoring their goal right at the end.

Northallerton manager Darren Trotter said; “We didn’t adapt to the windy conditions very well. Bedlington to their credit adapted better and deserved the win. We have learned from it and move on to the next game.”

Crook Town moved up three places to seventh from bottom when they scored a last minute winner against Esh Winning.

The visitors took a 22nd minute lead through Matty Allison from close range, but Crook levelled through Kyle Morris from a Daniel Smith assist six minutes later.

Matthew Stephenson headed the winner from a cross by Calum Johnston to give manager Chris Lax his first win in charge.

“It was a huge win in horrible conditions,” said Lax. “We’re delighted to get the first win, the lads dug deep and showed great attitude after a going a goal down.”

Esh Winning manager Tony Boakes said; “We were very unlucky not to get something out of the game. We were caught out twice by the conditions, Crook scoring the winner in the last minute in a goal we dominated.”

Willington drew 1-1 at Easington, who took the lead with a goal just on half time by Shaun Smith, but Willington levelled nine minutes into the second half through Lewis Milner.

Willington manager Rob Lee said; “It was a very scrappy game in gale force winds, both goals scored kicking against the wind.”

Durham City had a good 2-1 home win over Thornaby at Hall Lane.

Thornaby got off to a good start with a goal in the opening minute by Dan Chapman, but Ben Joyeux equalised shortly after. Chris Pattison got the winner for Durham on the hour Durham manager Olly Hotchkiss said; “I was very pleased with a much needed point and thoroughly deserved it. We played well and showed great character to come back from an early goal down. I thought the players were terrific and showed a desire to collect three points.”

Managerless Brandon had a bad day, losing 3-0 at home to Alnwick, which means they drop to sixth bottom.