Bishop Auckland are still in the bottom two of the UniBond League First Division after they were beaten 4-2 at Matlock on Saturday.

But even though manager Brian Honour was disappointed with the result, he was still reasonably happy with the performance.

"I thought we deserved something out of the game," said Honour.

"We brought in a new player, Oliver Cowie from Blyth, and together with Stuart Irvine and Johnny Mann, caused problems for their defence.

"I think we're improving all the time, and I'm sure that we'll win more than we lose over the rest of the season."

Bishops went a goal down after 18 minutes, but they quickly levelled when Mann cut in from the left and curled the ball past the keeper.

Matlock scored twice before the half hour to make it 3-1, but then Phil Ross and Irvine both went close for Bishops.

But any thoughts of a comeback were dashed after 75 minutes when the linesman ruled that Stuart Salvin handled in the area, and Matlock scored from the penalty.

Irvine pulled back a consolation goal in the last minute

Bishops' league game at Spennymoor, which was postponed on Boxing Day, has been re-arranged for Tuesday, January 14 at the Brewery Field, providing that Moors aren't involved in any cup ties.

Spennymoor's home game with Stocksbridge was postponed, leaving them with 25 league games and a minimum of two cup ties to play before the end of the season.

Manager Tony Lee said: "We could be playing three games a week near the end of the season if we have more postponements."

Moors next game is at Dunston on Tuesday in the Durham Challenge Cup, but with the weather forecast still poor, then that game could be postponed.

* All the Northern League programme was washed out by mid-morning on Saturday.