Wolviston went into second position, just three points behind Nissan, following a strong second-half performance which earned them a 3-0 victory at Whitburn in the Wearside League.

The Wearsiders battled hard but once Wolviston broke the deadlock early in the second period their confidence grew and in the end they were comfortable winners. Martin Oakley, Chris Lax and Shane Hudson were the marksmen.

Stanley United, enjoying a better-than-anticipated season, almost produced a shock result when they led early-season pace-setters North Shields by two goals until the final five minutes.

Tony Spence fired them ahead in the first minute and when Shaun Liddle converted a penalty on ten minutes, the Robins had a mountain to climb. It looked as if it was not to be their day when Paul Ross had a penalty saved by Andrew Colling ten minutes after the restart, but with the minutes ticking away, Jason Mumford reduced the deficit firing home from the edge of the penalty area.

It was not until the fifth minute of injury time that Ross Wilson headed in at the far post following a deep cross from Ray Gordon to deny Stanley. Previously, North Shields had conceded just two goals in nine outings.

Ferryhill Athletic were full value for their 3-1 success at Cleadon SC. Micky Bowron and Keith Gorman gave them the cushion of a two-goal interval lead and despite Kevin Westall striking for the home side, Ferryhill finished comfortably ahead with a second goal by Bowron.

Redcar Town went nap on their visit to Jarrow who managed only a consolation goal from Paul Gallant. Paul Nozedar, with a brace, Paul Parkes (penalty), Stephen Prest and Jonathan Stott were all on the mark for Redcar.

Birtley Town just squeezed home over Simonside for whom Paul Jary maintained his scoring form with a couple of goals. Ian Kennedy and David Southern twice gave Birtley the lead before a late goal from Graeme Hutchinson sealed a 3-2 win.

Annfield Plain tasted success for only the second time defeating visitors Windscale 2-1 after David Craig and Andrew Taylor had put them in control. When Kevin Law struck for the Cumbrians, however, it was all to play for.

Boldon CA recovered after conceding an early goal to win 3-1 on their visit to Thornaby on Tees. Steve Wilkinson levelled before the interval and during the second period, Mark Robinson and Wilkinson killed off Thornaby's hopes.PA Sport Collated Overseas Results,

Coppa Italia: Brescia 0 Juventus 0, Sampdoria 1 Roma 1, Torino 1 AC Milan 3

Belgian Jupiler League: Anderlecht 4 Harelbeke 3, Excelsior Mouscron 3 Westerlo 5, La Louviere 1 KV Mechelen 2, Lierse 4 Antwerp 1, Lokeren 2 St.-Truidense 1, Standard Liege 7 Eendracht Aalst 0, Gent 3 Beveren 0

Dutch Kpn-Telecompetitie: NAC Breda 3 De Graafschap 0, PSV 2 Sparta 1

French Le Championnat: Bastia 0 Rennes 2, Guingamp 1 Auxerre 0, Lens 1 PSG 1, Marseille 0 Bordeaux 1, Metz 1 Sedan 0, Monaco 3 Toulouse 0, Troyes 0 Strasbourg 1

French Deuxieme Division: Lorient 3 Angers 0, Beauvais 1 Le Mans 1, Creteil 0 Caen 1, Laval 0 Niort 1, Le Havre 2 Cannes 2, Montpellier 0 Sochaux 2, Nice 1 Nimes 2, Wasquehal 2 AC Ajaccio 0

German Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen 1 Hansa Rostock 2, Bayern Munich 3 Unterhaching 1, Bochum 2 Wolfsburg 1, Eintracht Frankfurt 1 1860 Munich 0, Hamburg 2 Borussia Dortmund 3, SC Freiburg 4 Cottbus 1

Spanish Primera Liga: Athletic Bilbao 3 Barcelona 1, Malaga 3 Real Madrid 3, Racing Santander 0 D Coruna 3, Valencia 4 Mallorca 0, Valladolid 2 Numancia 0

l Monaco striker Shabini Nonda claims he snubbed a £10million move to Rangers last season.

Rangers play Monaco on Wednesday night in the Champions League and their Congo international Nonda is expected to be one of the hosts' danger men.

Nonda said: ''It's true, Rangers were interested in signing me in December 1999. Of course I gave it a lot of thought.

''But I was with Rennes at the time and I desperately wanted to finish the season with them.