Newton Aycliffe manager Allan Oliver maintained that his side still hasn’t arrived in the first division even though they beat title chasing Whitley Bay 2-1 on Saturday.

Aycliffe also beat league leaders West Auckland the previous week, and even though Saturday’s win put them sixth in the league, Oliver says that the second division champions still haven’t established themselves in the first division.

“It’s still only November – only our league position at the end of the season will prove that we’re a first division team,” he pointed out. “It was a great win, and we played well throughout, but it’s no use beating a team near the top end of the table if we’re going to lose to those nearer the bottom.”

There was some good football played and both keepers pulled off good saves, but it was Aycliffe who took the lead after 71 minutes when Stuart Owens’ corner was nodded down by Darren Craddock for Dale Jardine to score at the second attempt.

Whitley equalised with ten minutes left when Robbie Dale sidefooted home, but with just a few minutes on the clock, Danny Mellanby opened up the Whitley defence for the outstanding Elliott Gardner to fire home.

Whitley Bay manager Ian Chandler said: “I thought we had the best opportunities but failed to put them away and got caught out at the death. I have to mention that the refereeing was excellent after the last few weeks.”

Bishop Auckland pulled off the shock result of the day when they won 2-1 at previous league leaders Dunston and are now up to seventh.

Bishops, who have re-signed defender Ian Dixon from Shildon, took the lead when Dan Hawkins scored from the edge of the box after 23 minutes, and they took a grip on the game when Darren Richardson headed in a Darren Atkinson cross before half time.

Bishops defended well until the 76th minute when Anthony Hume ran through and beat Bishops keeper Peter Jeffries.

Bishop Auckland manager Colin Myers said; “We were excellent in the first half, and could have been three or four up at half time. We caused them no end of problems. I wanted a reaction to Wednesday night’s defeat against West Auckland, and I got it.”

Dunston manager Billy Irwin said: “We weren’t at the races, and Bishop Auckland were really up for it. We have to be prepared for games like this.”

West Auckland are back on top of the table over Dunston on goals scored after winning 3-1 at Billingham Synthonia.

They took the lead early on when Alex Francis scored from the spot following a foul on Micky Rae, and they went 2-0 up at the start of the second half when Adam Nicholls fired home from 12 yards. Danny Hindmarch made it 3-0 from the edge of the box, before Synners pulled a late goal back through Nathan Jameson from a Danny Earl pass.

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Billingham Synthonia assistant manager Lee Tucker said: “We are really pleased with our performance, even though we lost. We played some great football and deserved something from the game. West were clinical, we were inventive. Our team can be very happy with their efforts.”

West Auckland manager Peter Dixon said: “It was a good three points, but we must be more consistent.”

Spennymoor won their first away league game of the season by 4-1 at Sunderland RCA, who haven’t won now in three league matches.

Former RCA player Gavin Barton scored the first goal on 22 minutes after Bobby Moore nodded the ball down to him, and they went 2-0 up when Gavin Cogdon cleverly dribbled past three players and beat RCA keeper Gary Hoggeth.

It was 3-0 when Sonny Andrews crossed well from the left for sub Adam Johnston to score at the far post, and another sub, Craig Ruddy, cut in from the right and scored from the edge of the box. The RCA pulled a goal back right at the end with a Lee Owens penalty after a foul by Moors keeper Craig Turns.

Moors are now fifth in the table, with games in hand on all the teams above them.

Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley said: “I thought we were unbelievable from back to front. We won the early battle, and then we won the game. Every one of our players was outstanding.”

Sunderland RCA manager Neil Hixon said: “It was an even game until Spennymoor scored their second goal, then it was men against boys for the remainder of the game.”

Second bottom Tow Law must have feared the worst at Bedlington after the home side thumped five past them in the first half at Welfare Park. Anthony Shandran put Bedlington into the lead in the first minute, then Steve Richardson added the second on 19 minutes. Stephen Stewart and Shandran scored twice inside three minutes to make it 4-0, with Shandran completing his hat trick just on half time to give him 17 league goals for the season, and make him the division’s leading scorer. Fortunately Tow Law improved in the second half and pulled goals back through Greg Halliday and Marc Nixon (penalty).

Tow Law manager Ian Davison said: “We were shocking in the first half, and deserved to be five down at half time. I asked for a response to win the second half, and that’s what we did – 2-0. No game for a fortnight now, and that’s just what we need.”

Consett beat fifth bottom South Shields 4-3 at Belle Vue. Consett took the lead after 9 minutes with an own goal by Jamie Scope, but Shields levelled when David Colvin finished off a good move. Consett regained the lead with a strike by Michael Mackay, and after 50 minutes Dale Burrell fired the third from the edge of the box. Colvin then pulled a goal back again to keep Shields in the game, only for Marc Walton to score a fourth at the other end. Lee Bell scored again for Shields right at the end.

South Shields manager Jon King said: “There were a lot of positives from the game, but there were also some negatives. We scored three times away from home, and we should have made sure that we won. We were poor defensively. Some of our defensive players were carrying knocks, which didn’t help.”

Consett manager Ken Lindoe said: “I thought we were good value for our win, but there are still issues and problems we need to iron out, because we’re not finishing teams off.”

Jarrow Roofing won for the first time in nine matches with a 4-3 away win at Shildon.

The visitors took the lead with a penalty by David Molloy, but Shildon levelled through Danny Richmond’s effort, and then went 2-1 up through Wayne Gredziak.

But Roofing equalised with a header by Josh Allen, and then took the lead when Keith Finch dropped a cross, and Allen scored again.

And to make matters worse for Shildon, defender Justin Keegan gave the ball away to Aristotle Guerin-Lokonga, who ran through and scored the fourth. Chris Hughes pulled a late goal back for Shildon from the penalty spot.

Jarrow Roofing manager Richie McLoughlin said: “It was a great game to win. We had nine players in the team aged between 18 and 22 out there, and they were great.”

Shildon manager Gary Forrest said: “We made three comical defensive errors, that wasn’t even Sunday morning stuff. The defence needs to organise itself properly, all four of their goals could have been prevented.”

Marske United lost 2-1 to Ashington at Mount Pleasant. Sixth bottom Marske took the lead with a Danny Brunskill penalty after Karl Charlton was brought down, but Ashington levelled when veteran Jamie Clarke headed in, and then they won their sixth successive league game with a header by Andrew Johnson.

Billingham Town dropped into the bottom four on goal difference after they were beaten 3-0 at Penrith. Robert Bowman put Penrith into the lead at half time, and Martin Coleman scored twice in the second half.

Bottom club Stokesley, without a league win this season, made Newcastle Benfield work hard for their 1-0 win at Sam Smiths Park. Micky Chilton scored the winner early in the second half.

The second division round up is in the second division section