Ryan stakes permanent claim for Whitley job after Bishops win

Ryan, who intends to continue playing, was handed the caretaker’s job last week when Ian Chandler resigned, and he is hoping that he and assistant Steve Foster will be given the opportunity in a meeting this week.

“I’ll be talking to the chairman, Paul McIlduff, early this week to discuss what’s going to happen,” he said. “I’d like the chance to be permanent manager – I was honoured to be asked to take over as caretaker, because Whitley bay is a fantastic club. There’ll always be pressure, because the club has a great history.

“Everybody gave 100 per cent effort, which is all I could ask for. I don’t think massive changes will be needed, because Chan has left a fantastic squad. We’re still in two cups, and have plenty to play for.”

Bishops were furious about a penalty that wasn’t given after 18 minutes when Danny Brunskill appeared to be pushed to the ground inside the area by Tomi Ameobi, but the referee waved play on.

Whitley went up the other end, and Paul Chow pounced on a defensive mistake to give his side the lead. Jonny Butler hit the bar for Bishops, but Chow fired the second for Bay before half time.

Butler hit the bar again for Bishops, before Ameobi headed the ball into his own goal for a last minute consolation.

Bishop Auckland manager David Bayles said; “There should have been a dismissal at 0-0, and that changed the game. But we still had enough chances to win the game in the second half.”

Celtic Nation went back to the top of the table above Shildon with a good 2-1 away win at Consett.

Willie McStay’s side took an early lead when Matty Grieve scored from a corner, but Consett levelled when David Coulson headed in a Calvin Smith cross.

The Nation won the points when they awarded a penalty for a foul on Joe Paterson which Consett claimed happened outside the area, but Colin McMenamin kept cool and scored from the spot.

Consett nearly levelled right at the end, Aristote Gurin-Lokonga was denied by Nation keeper Aaran Taylor.

Consett manager Kenny Lindoe said; “I thought we deserved at least a draw, but a penalty awarded for an incident clearly outside the box (as shown by the video coverage of the game), has cost us. We seem to place greater emphasis on Secret Shopper than getting competent officials to referee our games. I’m an angry and frustrated man.”

Newton Aycliffe produced their third successive 3-3 draw, this time against Crook Town at the Millfield.

Former Crook player Danny Mellanby put Aycliffe into the lead from the edge of the box, and then he opened up the defence for Mark Wood, who recently returned to the club from Bishop Auckland, to score the second.

Adam Nicholls then set up Alex Marshall to score from a few yards to pull a goal back before half time, and then he did the same again after half time.

It looked as if Crook had won it when Richard Hodgson scored a hotly disputed penalty for a foul by Aycliffe keeper Andrew Spence on Robbie Bird with a minute left, but in stoppage time Aycliffe’s Stuart Owen blasted in an equally controversial penalty when Tom Atkinson was fouled.

Newton Aycliffe manager Allan Oliver said; “We played really well in the first half, but we never came out for the second half. We deserved something out of the game for our first half performance.”

Crook manager Gary Pearson said; “Unbelievable! As usual we gifted the opposition two goals through bad defending and giving the ball away unopposed cheaply. The second half was all one way traffic as we had seven or eight chances , The referee played a huge part in the result. One penalty was deservedly given and another given to level the scores took the shine off a well deserved win. All in all I was happy with 90 per cent of our performance and a point is better than none.”

Billingham Town picked up only their fifth point of the season and only their second clean sheet when they drew 0-0 at Marske United.

Town keeper Joe Williamson pulled off a couple of good saves, but at the other end Danny Ballantyne nearly scored with a header.

In he second half, Town’s Stephen Hodgson missed a good chance following a mistake by Marske keeper Robbie Deane, who pulled off a good save later from Ballantyne.

However, despite the result, Town are inevitably relegated.

Billingham Town manager Darren Trotter said; “I’m really pleased with the performance. The lads stuck to the plan, showed discipline and desire and with a bit of luck, could have nicked it.”

Marske manager Ted Watts said; “Very poor”

Crook manager Gary Pearson said; “Unbelievable! As usual we gifted the opposition two goals through bad defending and giving the ball away unopposed cheaply. The second half was all one way traffic as we had seven or eight chances , The referee played a huge part in the result. One penalty was deservedly given and another given to level the scores took the shine off a well deserved win. All in all I was happy with 90 per cent of our performance and a point is better than none.”

Durham City beat Team Northumbria 2-0 at New Ferens Park. They took the lead after 20 minutes when the TN keeper Andrew Jennison fumbled a cross, and Scott Fenwick scored from the loose ball, and they went 2-0 up after half time when Max Stoker headed in a Denver Morris cross.

TN’s cause wasn’t helped when Paul Hutchinson was dismissed for his second yellow.

Durham assistant manager Ian Skinner said; “It was a game we dominated from start to finish playing some very good football at times. Team North went down to ten men with 20 minutes to go and we took our foot off the pedal which was disappointing. However, we comfortably saw the game out.”

Team Northumbria manager Paul Johnson said; “I’m really disappointed with the result. We conceded two cheap goals, and we were happy dealing with their long ball play. In my opinion the officials gave their striker a lot of protection when contesting headers, whereas our strikers didn’t get the same protection, but perhaps we need to be more streetwise. Even in ten men in the second half we became the more dominant side and had some good chances to get back into the game.

Billingham Synthonia went down 3-1 at Ashington, who are now up to fourth. Recent signing James Novak fired Ashington into the lead with a left foot shot on 23 minutes, then Kyle Oliver made it 2-0 from a left wing cross.

Michael Sweet pulled a goal back from the penalty spot after Kris Hughes was fouled on 52 minutes and they missed a couple of chances to level before Ashington made sure near the end with a Glen Taylor header.

Billingham Synthonia assistant manager Lee Tucker said; “It was a close game and an improved performance by us, but unfortunately no points.”

Ashington assistant manager Perry Briggs said; “It was good to get back to winning ways in difficult conditions. Hopefully, we can kick on and finish the season well.”

The game between Penrith and Sunderland RCA was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch. Penrith haven’t played a home game since December 7th, because their ground is adjacent to the River Eden.

In the second division, Seaham Red Star had an excellent 3-0 win over North Shields, who had won their previous 13 league matches.

After a goalless first half, Seaham took the lead with a Dean Nicholson penalty, then Lee Kerr scored the second from the edge of the box. David Palmer scored the third when he dribbled through and chipped the keeper.

Seaham manager Mark Collingwood said; “We were the better side by a country mile. We had a game plan to unsettle North Shields and we stuck to it. Shields were outplayed and outfought, we were fantastic from start to finish.”

Seaham’s win allowed Jarrow Roofing to go eight points behind Shields when they beat Birtley 4-1. Stuart Nicholson crossed for Liam McBryde to open the scoring m and then Anth Myers volleyed Nicholson’s corner home. It was 3-0 just on half time when McBryde set up Paul Gardiner to score. Birtley pulled one back when Jordan Lavery pounced on a mistake, but McBryde scored his 20th league goal of the season from a rebound near the end.

Jarrow Roofing manager Richie McLoughlin said; “We were very good in the first half and that’s where we won the game. We dropped off in the second half and gifted them a goal, but kept them to only one chance while having opportunities ourselves and a fantastic man of the match performance from Stevie Graham on his first start for us. Overall three big points for us considering the other scores.”

Birtley manager Paul Bryson said; “We were well beaten by a good experienced tam, no excuses.”

West Allotment beat Darlington RA 2-1 at Whitley Park to stay level on points with Roofing. The RA took the lead with a David Webster free kick just before halftime, but David Dormand fired Allotment level soon after the break. Webster nearly scored from another free kick, but Dormand headed the winner with nine minutes left.

Norton are hanging on to the coat tails of the leaders in fifth after they came from behind to beat Stokesley 3-2.

Nicky Martin headed Norton the lead after 27 minutes, but Harry Taylor equalised with a header at the other end.

Kristian Kamara put Stokesley into the lead from the penalty spot, but Karl Charlton levelled from a rebound. John Seaton got the winner from close range with five minutes left.

Darlington RA manager Nick Harrison said; “We’re disappointed to lose and the early goal in the second half hurt us. Overall the lads grafted their socks off and have only lost by one goal in the last three games against the top three, so I’m positive for the remainder of the season.”

West Allotment Paul Stoneman said; “We were very rusty, not having played for five weeks. All I wanted was a win which we got, but we made hard work of it. We missed so many chances and they only had one shot which they scored from.”

Northallerton’s promotion challenge is now almost over after they lost 4-2 at Chester-le-Street.

They took the lead when Colin Anderson scored from the penalty spot after Chester’s Kevin Dixon was dismissed for deliberate handball on the line, but Chester levelled with a Damien Stevens shot just before half time.

Northallerton then had James Howlett dismissed for a last man foul, but emergency keeper Michael Colman saved the penalty.

However, Stevens lobbed the keeper to make it 2-1, and just before the hour he fired the third into the bottom corner. Sub Tony Healer added the fourth, before Darren Kokes pulled a late goal back.

Northallerton manager Peter Mulcaster said; “That’s two games on the trot in which we’ve not turned up as a team.”

Chester-le-Street manager Colin Wake said; “I feel that we thoroughly deserved the win, even when we were reduced to ten men, I felt we were in control. Second half they were also reduced to ten men and from then on we bossed the game. 4-2 was closer than the result should have been.”

Willington lost 3-0 at home to Whickham. Willington were holding the visitors at 0-0 until keeper David Moffat was dismissed for a foul, and then it all went wrong. Ian Robson beat replacement keeper Aiden Goodey from the penalty spot, and in the last five minutes Chad Collins scored twice from close range.

Whickham manager Robin Falcus said; “It was a real scrappy affair but I felt we were the stronger team. The sending off helped us and eventually we finished them off with good finishing from young Chad Collins.”

Willington manager Rob Lee said; “Our keeper was sent off in the second half and they scored with the penalty. The sending off changed the game.”

Washington scored twice late in the game to defeat Washington 3-1. Matty Tymon put Whitehaven into the lead in the opening minute, but Washington levelled through Chris Winn on 16 minutes. The game turned nine minutes from the end when Washington keeper Neal Atkinson saved a Tymon penalty, and in the last five minutes Winn and Paul Kane scored.

Washington manager Stephen Hutchinson said; “We played against a heavy wind in the first half but we controlled the game well after giving an early goal away. I wasn’t happy with the way we played in the second half, but a win’s a win!”

Third bottom Brandon have been sucked deeper into trouble after losing 4-1 at Ryton and Crawcrook, and had to play all but eight minute of the game with ten men after Mark Brischuk was dismissed following an off the ball incident.. They almost held on to a point, but Ryton scored three times in the last ten minutes. Phil Hodges put Ryton into the lead, but Alex Wilson scored for Brandon. However, Lee McGill, Scott Canham and Dean Sinclair scored late in the game.

Brandon only stayed third bottom because Esh Winning, a place below them, lost 3-0 at Thornaby, for whom Jonny Burton, Ged Livingstone and David Wells scored.

Thornaby manager Neil Radigan said; “It was a poor performance in the first half, as could be expected after having games off, but in the second half we were outstanding. We should have won by more, but overall it was a pleasing three points.”

Esh Winning manager Gavin Mudd said; “We did well in the first half, we were 1-0 down against the wind, but we never came out in the second half.”

The game between Heaton Stannington and South Shields had to be abandoned after an hour because of an injury to Heaton’s Lee Johnson, who needed an ambulance and couldn’t be moved from the field.

In the Evo-Stik League, Blyth lost 1-0 at home to Buxton but still remain joint fifth.

Whitby lost 4-2 at Skelmersdale after leading 2-1 with goals by Graeme Armstrong and Craig Farrell going into the last five minutes. They are still four points below the play off places.