The morning’s top four all lost in the second division.

Leaders Team Northumbria lost 3-1 at Darlington RA, who won their first game in eight. The RA took the lead with a good effort by player-manager Nick Harrison, only for Liam Clough to bundle in the equaliser.

However, Graeme Whitehead restored the RA’s lead from James Evison’s cross, then Whitehead volleyed the third from twelve yards.

Darlington RA manager Nick Harrison said: “We’ve been badly hit by injuries and players losing form, but after our performance in midweek against Billingham Town, we took plenty of confidence into the game. We had a top quality squad, and the quality showed. It was a really good performance.”

Second placed Whickham lost 2-1 at Morpeth. Stephen Anderson and David Dormand scored for Morpeth in the first 20 minutes, with Graeme King pulling a goal back for Whickham.

North Shields’ 12 game unbeaten run came to an end when they were beaten 3-2 at home by Gillford Park. The Cumbrians led 2-0 at one point with goals by James Earl and Marc Shiel, but Shields stormed back to level through Mark Rasmussen and Paul Gordon. However, Shiel popped up with the winner, his fifth goal of the week, with just a few minutes left to down Shields.

North Shields manager Anthony Woodhouse said: “A draw would have been a fair result as we hit the post three times. They were 2-0 up after 28 minutes and we were always chasing the game. We got back to 2-2 and then conceded straight away. It was disappointing to end our unbeaten run.”

West Allotment lost 1-0 at Ryton, for whom Kraig Wilkinson scored the winner, although Allotment missed several good chances.

West Allotment manager Paul Stoneman said: “I’m not happy with the performance at all. If you miss as many chances as we did, you don’t deserve to get anything, although we created the chances I thought Ryton wanted it more than us all over the park which I can’t accept.”

Birtley took advantage of the others slipping up to climb up to third after they came from behind to beat Esh Winning 3-2. Esh looked home and dry as they led 2-0 with goals by Lee Newby and Craig Mickle, but Birtley produced a grandstand finish with goals by Danny Smart (2) and Andy McIntosh. Smart now has 14 league goals for the season.

Birtley manager Scott Oliver said: “It feels strange to win . We were butchered for 65 minutes and went 2-0 down, but as we proved, goals certainly change matches.”

Esh Winning manager Andrew Soppitt said: “We should have been out of sight after 70 minutes. Credit to Birtley they battled back well, but as far as I’m concerned it was another game thrown away.”

Northallerton scored a last minute equaliser to earn them a point at Hebburn.

The home side, playing their first home league game since August, took the lead after 15 minutes when Tony Stephenson scored from a Dean Nicholson pass, but Northallerton quickly equalised with a Peter Bulmer free kick.

Hebburn went back into the lead on 65 minutes when Chris Jewells headed the ball down for Stephenson to score from close range, but right at the end Stuart Dunn scored from an acute angle.

Northallerton manager Mark Fanning said: “We battled hard today against a very strong Hebburn side. Officials were horrendous and not fit to be in charge at this level.”

Hebburn manager Paul Bennett said: “It was a bitterly disappointing and frustrating afternoon. Some players need to realise that games like today are bread and butter and the FA Cup run is over. Great respect to Northallerton who if I’m honest deserved more than the point they got. A chance to close the gap on the others goes begging.”

Seaham Red Star drew 2-2 with Horden. Seaham took the lead through Adam Drysdale, only for Jack Honour to equalise. Richard Goodman restored Seaham’s lead, but Ben Jackson equalised for Horden in second half stoppage time.

Horden manager Brian Honour said: “We got out of jail, Seaham were by far the better team.”

Seaham manager Steve Cook said: “I was disappointed with our overall performance. We lacked quality and tempo especially in the first half which was dour! We laid siege to the Horden goal after the break but a combination of good goalkeeping poor finishing prevented us from getting into a comfortable winning position. But credit to Horden, they never gave in and although I think we deserved all three points, I can’t deny Horden a point.”

Easington’s new boss, Mark Proudlock, is still without a win in three games after they were beaten 3-0 at home by Chester-le-Street.

Callum Patton put Chester into the lead with an effort from just inside the box, then Patton set up Scott Swanston to score from a few yards.

The game turned more against Easington when they had Michael Watson dismissed for two yellows, and after Chester hit the woodwork twice, Patton scrambled the third.

Easington manager Mark Proudlock said: “It was a poor first half performance with Chester in control and worse to follow when Michael Watson was sent off. Down to ten men, we battled hard and we had a couple of chances to score, but Chester deservedly claimed the points.”

Chester-le-Street manager Anth Smith said: “We started the game strongly amd our domination paid off. Easington had a player sent off which was harsh. The second half was stretched and not great quality. We saw the game out well after we scored our third.”

Brandon had a good 4-1 home win over Washington, who have lost their last six straight matches. Paul Robinson gave Brandon a half time lead, and in the second half, Mark Brischuk added another to give him eleven league goals for the season, with Connor Winter and Andy Beamson scoring the others. Michael Rush replied for Washington.

In the other game, Whitehaven and Alnwick drew 1-1 The match between Thornaby and Crook was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.