Bishop Auckland suffered their worst defeat of the season when they were hammered 7-2 at Bamber Bridge on Saturday.

It was the old familiar story for Bishops with their defence punished for some bad mistakes, and manager Brian Healy said: "Some players in the team did well, but others showed a lack of character. It wasn't just bad defending, it was worse than that."

Bishops held their own for most of the first half, and trailed to just a single goal by Neil Spencer at one point.

But they disintegrated just before half-time, when Spencer completed his hat-trick. Mark Sheeran pulled one back but Spencer went on to score another two, with Alex Porter and Chris Bennett scoring further goals.

Simon O'Shea scored a consolation in the last minute for Bishops, who have now lost their last 12 matches and are 16 points from safety.

In the Premier Division, Gateshead picked up three vital points with a 3-2 win at Burscough, coming back from a goal down at half time. Adam Johnston and James Curtis put them 2-1 up, and after Burscough equalised, Johnston got the winner with just a few minutes left.

Whitby keeper Ben Escritt saved a last-minute penalty to earn a point in a 0-0 draw at Marine, while Blyth won 1-0 at Lincoln United thanks to a Peter Snowdon strike.