Bishop Auckland blew a two goal lead and lost 3-2 at home to Bedlington last night.

It looked good for Bishops when Andy Johnson turned quickly on the end of a Chris Bell free kick and scored from twelve yards, and then he got the second when he got on the end of a through ball and fired diagonally past Morton.

But Bedlington responded after 40 minutes with a Peter Snowdon header from a right wing cross, then Richard Flynn levelled with another header.

And Flynn got the winner direct from a free kick on 63 minutes. Bishop Auckland manager Colin Myers said: "We were cruising at 2-0, and then we allowed them two completely free headers. It was a very disappointing result, on the basis of what the players did at Shildon in our previous game. We didn't have much of a go in the second half, we're either outstanding or very poor."

Shildon had a good 3-0 away win at Billingham Synthonia. They were gifted the opening goal on 11 minutes when Synners keeper Josh Moody gave the ball straight to Stephen Johnson on the edge of his own area, and the striker had the simplest of tasks to score.

It was 2-0 on 42 minutes when Johnson scored with a left foot shot from a right wing cross, and Warren Byrne scored the third on 53 minutes from twelve yards. Shildon manager Gary Forrest said: "It was a good solid performance. The lads worked hard and kept their shape against a team that can play if you let them." Billingham Synthonia assistant manager Lee Tucker said: "We're disappointed as we were the better team for the first half and yet gave away two sloppy goals. Things just didn’t go for us but we don’t see it as a major setback."

Bottom club Stokesley led Billingham Town at one point, but lost 3-1. Mark Dawson put them in the lead on 28 minutes, but Jamie Owens levelled with a penalty two minutes later. Craig Norman and Sean Boynton scored for Town in the second half. Town manager Carl Jarrett said: "We made hard work of it in the first half, and went out sloppy as usual. But in the second half we had more attacking options, and could have scored more."

In the second division, Northallerton had a good 3-0 home win over high flying Whickham. Colin Anderson put then in the lead, and after Whickham’s Craig Cavanagh was red carded, Stuart Hardy headed a second before half time. Peter Bulmer added the third in the second half. Northallerton manager Mark Fanning said: "We got off to a great start, and carried that level of performance all the way through the game. We're continuing in the right direction."

Easington manager Andy Colledge resigned straight after their 2-0 home defeat by Whitehaven in the league cup, saying that’s he’s taken the club as far as he can. See the separate story on this website.

Second Division Alnwick Town are looking for a new manager following the resignation of Dougie McKeown following a disagreement on club policy.

Brooks Mileson Northern League Cup Easington 0 Whitehaven 2 (Dunn 2) Northumberland Senior Cup.

North Shields 1 (Dunn) Morpeth 2 (Anderson, Hall), West Allotment 1 (Lee)Team Northumbria 4 (Watling 2, Riley, Davies).

STL Northern League Division One.

Billingham Synthonia 0 Shildon 3 (Byrne, Johnson 2), Bishop Auckland 2 (Johnson 2) Bedlington 3 (Flynn 2, Snowdon), Stokesley 1 (Dawson) Billingham Town 3 (Owens, Norman, Boynton).

Division Two.

Northallerton 3 (Anderson, Hardy,Bulmer) Whickham 0.