Second division leaders Newton Aycliffe are now seven points clear at the top after they beat Morpeth 5-0 at Moore Lane.

Warren Byrne scored possibly the fastest STL goal of the season after 16 seconds when the Morpeth defence misjudged the bounce of the ball and he scored from the edge of the box.

Elliott Gardner fired the second after 58 minutes, and two minutes later Fred Woodhouse tapped in the third from a corner.

Byrne then had a penalty blocked by the keeper, and after he hit the rebound against the bar from three yards, Danny Mellanby scored from the loose ball. Mellanby then set up Paul Broom for the fifth.

Second placed Guisborough lost 2-0 at Team Northumbria, for whom Nat Price and Mark Fenwick scored early in the second half.

Darlington RA had a good 1-1 draw with Marske United. New signing Garry Barnes hit the bar for the RA after 20 minutes, but Marske took the lead when Karl Charlton set up Derek Bradley to fire home just before half time.

However, the RA levelled just after half time when Fred Huscroft pounced on a defensive mistake and scored from the edge of the box.

Birtley were furious that their game at Gillford Park was postponed because of a frozen pitch, only 90 minutes after the home side gave them the go-ahead to travel. Gillford claimed that a cold wind off the Solway Firth froze the pitch and forced the postponement.

Meanwhile, Hebburn were advised to travel to Whitehaven by the home side at 9am, but when they arrived at the ground, the referee called the game off because of a frozen pitch 45 minutes before the scheduled start.