Billingham Town manager Alan Robinson hailed his side's midweek win at Durham City as one of their best of the season.

Town virtually ended City's hopes of lifting the league title with a 2-1 win, and Robinson (pictured, right) said: "Apart from the Stalybridge away game in the FA Cup, that was probably our best away performance.

"We were certainly a shock to Durham's system, and when you consider that we had players out of position, then we did really well," he said. Town have lost just one away league game this season.

Durham took the lead after 38 minutes when Michael Canavan scored from a corner but Town levelled just before half-time through Paul Rowntree from Jamie Clark's pass. And Rowntree got the winner after 75 minutes, scoring from a Richie Gaston pass.

Marske United won 4-1 at Chester-le-Street. Marske took the lead in the first minute, when Simon Kasonali crossed low from the left for John Woods to score at the far post.

Chester levelled from the penalty spot, but Marske regained the lead when Greg Booth scored with a volley from 35 yards out.

They went further ahead after the break when Ben Thompson provided the pass for Neil Hodgson to sidefoot home, then Thompson rounded off the scoring when he dispossessed a defender and dribbled past the keeper. And there was further glory for Marske on Thursday night with a 4-1 victory at Seaham Red Star.

Easington climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Seaham Red Star. The home side went in front when Gary McDonald raced through to give them a half time lead, but former Seaham player Paul Milner equalised when he beat two defenders and scored wit ha right foot shot. Ian Matthews then got the winner with a header from an Aaron Scott cross.

Gavin Naylor also missed a penalty, and Scott struck the bar.

Easington manager Wilf Constantine said: "The win has lifted everybody's morale. The second-half display was our best for a long time."

Guisborough beat Billingham Synthonia 2-0 at the King George, both goals coming in the last fifteen minutes. Steve Hampton scored from a long ball after 77 minutes, and three minutes later sub Darren Ward added the second with a right foot shot.

Newcastle Blue Star's home game with Tow Law on Tuesday night was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

In Division Two, Northallerton opened the promotion race by winning 2-1 at leaders Ashington, Paul Wratten and Dave Lawson scoring the goals.

On Wednesday night, Peterlee narrowed the gap on the leaders to one point with a 5-1 win at Hebburn.

The home side took the lead after 20 seconds when Robert Marsden scored from ten yards but Peterlee levelled after 13 minutes when Paul Hinton scored from a John Outhwaite cross six yards out.

Hinton put them into the lead from a Karl White cross after 20 minutes, with Tony Green making it 3-1 from an Outhwaite pass.

Outhwaite made it 4-1 with a diving header from White's cross after 55 minutes, and near the end Brian Fairhurst got the fifth.

Brandon beat West Auckland 4-2 in a bad-tempered clash where four players were sent-off, including three from West. Simon Rogers put West into the lead, with Andy Purvis and Micky Cunningham putting Brandon in front at half time. Roy Allen equalised for West, but Darryl Smith and Mark Patterson grabbed the points for Brandon.

Darren Jackson was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident, while West's Mark Wheldon and Brandon's Richie Pitt were both dismissed for fighting before half-time. Striker Allen was dismissed for his second bookable offence in the second-half and then was involved in an incident with a Brandon player as he left the field.

In the Second Division, Washington took advantage of Ashington's slip the night before to go second with a 3-0 home win over Shotton. Steve Burns (2) and Paul Robinson were the scorers.

l Northern League referee Russell Tiffin from Shiney Row has been chosen as one of the assistant referees for the LDV Vans Trophy final next month between Port Vale and Brentford at the Millennium Stadium. The match referee is Bill Burns, who is in his last season on the League list.

l Seaham Red Star manager Steve Smith has put several players on the transfer list. Seaham lost 3-2 at home to Morpeth last Saturday, and an annoyed Smith, who has seen his side fail to live up to last season's standard, lost his rag with his players after the game.

Smith has told Dominic Rice, Dave Hobson, Ben Hutchinson and Dean Hanna that they can all go.

The league season looks set to end on May 14. The league had hoped to finish by the end of April but the high number of postponements has meant that they have had to extend the season.

The game which might decide the league takes place on May 11, when Dunston and Bedlington, two of the teams in contention, meet at Federation Park.