Billingham Town finished in their highest ever position in the league when they won 2-1 at Guisborough on Wednesday.

Carl Chillingsworth scored twice to send Town on their way to victory, and manager Alan Robinson said: "It's a perfect end to a great season.

"We've scored 100 goals, finished third, and overtaken our rivals, Billingham Synthonia. We couldn't have asked for more."

Town could have finished even closer to second place if they hadn't had three points deducted for fielding an ineligible player, ironically against Guisborough, earlier in the season.

League cup finalists Shildon had to be content with sixth place after they lost 1-0 at home to Dunston, for whom Paul Hogg headed the winner after 64 minutes.

Shildon rested several of their players with the League cup final in mind, and included 48-year-old keeper Phil Owers.

Washington's revival was completed when they scored three times in the second half to beat Morpeth 3-1. Washington were bottom before Christmas, but have lost just three out of 20 league games since then. They have now finished in 11th place. Keith Hutchinson (2) and John Curtis scored for them.

Penrith are promoted from the Second Division after they won 3-2 at Northallerton.

The home side took the lead through Andy Hebron, but Barry Irving and Andy Raison scored twice within a minute at the start of the second half, with Irving adding another after 88 minutes. Andy Windross scored a late consolation. Penrith need a point to be champions, but their goal difference should be enough regardless of the results of their last two matches against Hebburn and Thornaby.

Horden are second in the table after they won 2-0 at Eppleton. Chris I'Anson put them into a first half lead, then after Chris I'Anson's penalty was saved and then ordered to be retaken, keeper Steve Tierney scored from the spot. Horden need to beat Hebburn tomorrow to win promotion.

Ashington and Thornaby drew 2-2 with Ashington levelling in the last minute, which means that Ashington have missed out on promotion, and Thornaby need to beat Penrith tomorrow to win promotion.

Seaham Red Star could pip them for third after they beat Easington 2-0 thanks to two goals from Craig Lines. If Seaham win at Northallerton tomorrow and Thornaby slip up, then Seaham will be promoted.

Prudhoe manager Steve Smith slammed his side's performance as "disgraceful" against Morpeth on the last day of the season.

After looking safe from relegation following Consett's failure to win at Shildon the week before, Prudhoe were pegged back by Peterlee on the last day of the season. Prudhoe lost 3-1 at home to Morpeth, while Peterlee crowned an amazing revival by winning at Newcastle Blue Star to save their First Division place.

Smith, appointed as manager last summer following the departure of Tony Harrison to Ashington, said: "We were disgraceful last Saturday, the same as we have been for most of the last ten games.

"There are some players in the team who have experience from the UniBond League, and they let us down.

"It was horrible to watch, and defensively we were embarrassing.

"We should have been safe from relegation six weeks ago, but instead we picked up just three points from our last ten matches.

"There was no character in some of them. I told them to stand up and be counted before the game, and some of them didn't."

Smith is now going to sit down with his committee soon and discuss next season.

"There are going to be a few changes," he said.

Tow Law's home defeat by Washington last Saturday ended a bad week for them.

They lost on penalties in the league cup semi final at Shildon the previous Tuesday, and the home defeat by Washington a few days days later meant that they had failed to win any of their last seven league matches.

Manager Graeme Forster said: "Some of the performances we've seen in recent weeks have been worse than the teams who have been relegated.

"We've failed to win any of our last eight matches because we haven't scored enough goals - only two in that time. And since Christmas, we've only picked up 18 points in 21 games - and that signifies only one thing."

The season will be regarded as a failure by Tow Law fans considering that last season, they finished runners up to champions Bedlington.

Consett secretary Ian Hamilton has paid tribute to outgoing manager Colin Carr, who quit a fortnight ago.

Carr was at the club for 15 years and guided them to the FA Cup first round, the league cup and good league placings, but he decided that everyone needed a change after the defeat at Shildon a fortnight ago, a result which consigned them to relegation.

"Colin was a such a good manager for 15 years," said Hamilton.

"He didn't have many resources to play with, but he managed to find plenty of good players, and then get the best out of them.

"It was an amicable parting, and we would like to wish him all the best for the future."

Consett were relegated by four points.

Peterlee boss Andy Toman quit soon after his side's triumphant escape from relegation at Newcastle Blue Star.

Toman won't go into details as to why he has resigned, except to say: "I've resigned because of circumstances beyond my control. I've enjoyed being manager, but there are one or two difficulties which I've found very hard to overcome. Even if we'd gone down, I would still have packed in.

"The players deserve a tremendous amount of credit for climbing to safety, and I have to thank them for all their effort and hard work."

Peterlee looked certainties to go down at the start of April, as they were well adrift of the fourth bottom spot.

But Prudhoe's failure to win matches, and Peterlee's four wins and two draws from their last six matches, helped them to safety.

Newcastle Blue Star are looking for a new manager following the resignation of Steve Higgins before the game last Saturday. Anyone interested should contact secretary Jimmy Anderson on 0191 243 1025.

Billingham Town's 4-2 win at Shildon on Saturday means that West Auckland are now almost certain to pick up the prize money for being the team to score most goals outside the top four. Town are the league's leading scorers with almost 100 goals.

West Auckland assistant manager Paul Cross is holding a fundraising evening in aid of Greenfields School, Newton Aycliffe, on Wednesday May 14. Former Burnley striker Steve Kindon is the guest speaker. Details are available from the school.

The two goals scored by Bedlington striker John Milner means that he is almost certain to lift the league's individual scoring award at the end of the season.

Milner's two goals at Dunston on Saturday put him on 34 league goals for the season, and moved him one ahead of Jarrow Roofing striker Paul Chow, with just one game remaining, at Newcastle Blue Star tomorrow.

Washington Nissan striker Adam Johnston has a big lead in the Second Division charts, and is almost certain to win that division's award.