Whitley Bay manager Ian Chandler says that his side found their best form last night in their 3-1 local derby win over Bedlington.

Whitley scored three times in the first half hour, as they followed up last Saturday’s Vase win at Herne Bay to go above Bedlington into sixth place in the table.

Chandler said: “ We were back to our best last night. In the first half Bedlington could not have complained if we'd gone in 5 or 6 up. We played some fast flowing football, great passing play and we looked very, very solid at the back.

“I was delighted with the full time score. The second half was tough as Bedlington came out to restore some pride and we held them pretty well.”

Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley thought that his side's 2-1 derby win over Bishop Auckland was a great advert for Northern League football. "It was played at a good tempo and commitment from both sides. We controlled the majority of the game and missed several very good chances most notably Steve Capper's penalty in the second half. I felt if we had scored then we might have gone on to win more comfortably, but credit to Bishops who never gave in and came more into it as the game went on and put in several dangerous crosses which we had to deal with. "I do think we tired in the last 15 minutes but i think that was because of the exertions in Bristol on Saturday. I think Colin will be happy with his players' endeavour as they certainly played their part in a great derby." Bishop Auckland manager Colin Myers, who has transfer listed Adam Emson and Dan Olusoga said: "We had a cracking second half performance, and could have got something out of the game." West Auckland are above Whitley after beating bottom club Ryton 5-0, and manager Peter Dixon said: "We made five changes, but were aware of the potential banana skin. "We never underestimated Ryton, and they are not the worst side we've played this season. "Our players were very professional in their approach to the game and our squad rotation, whilst Ryton never gave up and were a credit to their club." In the second division, North Shields edged closer to the two leaders with a 7-1 thrashing of Washington. Manager Anthony Woodhouse said: "We didn’t play particularly well in the first half but went in 5-1 up – we only scored two goals in the second half but bossed the game." A shields player scored a hat trick for the second successive game. Andy Hay scored one last Saturday in the 5-0 away win at Darlington RA, and Keith Douglas also did last night.

Marske manager Paul Burton was delighted with a 1-1 draw at Whitehaven. "I thought we played very well considering we only arrived at 7.27pm for a 7.45pm kick off. The ref wasn't very accommodating and gave us no extra time to get ready and do a warm up. As we were trying to get the lads stretched off on the pitch he had Whitehaven lined up on the half way line waiting for the team handshakes. "We got caught cold in the first 15 minutes and Whitehaven scored a good goal. When we looked like getting back into it, Whitehaven got a penalty after a foul in the box, but our new keeper Jon McDonald made a fantastic save to keep us in it. "We played well in the second half and deservedly equalised through Karl Charlton. The remainder of the half was pretty much one way traffic but we couldn’t quite find the finishing touch. "Overall, I was delighted with the effort and commitment shown, and if we keep playing like we are we will be ok."