West Auckland went top of the STL Northern League with a 2-2 draw at Norton – but they failed to win against ten men.

Norton were reduced to ten men after 18 minutes when Leon Scott handled on the line and was shown red, but Mattie Moffat missed from the spot.

West took the lead on 28 minutes when Moffat set up Adam Nicholls to score, but Norton equalised after 39 minutes when John Alexander’s shot was deflected past West keeper Kyle Barlow by Darryl Hall.

West regained the lead after 44 minutes when Matthew Coad fired into the bottom corner of the net from 15 yards. But Norton kept battling away, and nine minutes from the end they equalised when James Magowan scored from a Garry Barnes cross. West Auckland manager Peter Dixon said: "We're top of the league, and yet we feel terrible. There's no excuses for being unable to hold on to the lead against ten men, and nobody comes out of the game with any credit. The performance came as a shock to me, we need a vast improvement in the Vase on Saturday."

Spennymoor Town suffered only their second league defeat of the season when they were beaten 2-1 at Guisborough.

The home side took the lead after 11 minutes with a shot by Shane Henry, and after a couple of good saves by Guisborough keeper Jack Norton, Moors equalised on 63 minutes with a header by Bobby Moore.

But Guisborough got the winner on 75 minutes when Liam McPhillips crossed for Henry to head the winner. Guisborough manager Chris Hardy said: "Victories don't come any more pleasing than that. A very good team effort in a game where I thought we deserved all three points." Spennymoor manager Jason Ainsley said: "I was very disappointed with the start we made. In the first 20 minutes we just didn't turn up which was very frustrating, second half we controlled the game, got the equaliser and I expected us to go on and win the game but got done with a sucker punch with the only notable attack Guisborough had. Credit to Guisborough on the night for working tremendously hard throughout the 90 minutes but it's an all to familiar story with us in midweek games where our performances have been under par. You can look at the changes we made but that has not been the case in other midweek games where we have kept the same side and we still haven't had the level of performance we expect and have had on a Saturday."

Newton Aycliffe striker Elliott Gardner scored a hat trick when they beat Jarrow Roofing 5-3 at Moore Lane.

Roofing took the lead when new signing Tony Thirkell scored from a Kris Hughes cross, but Aycliffe levelled after 27 minutes when Dale Jardine headed against the bar and Gardner sidefooted in.

Josh Knox put Aycliffe into the lead with a deflected shot on 32 minutes, and then just after the break Dale Jardine slipped the ball past Nick Liversedge for the third. Gardner made it 4-1 from the spot, and then curled a right foot shot home for the fifth on 55 minutes. Kris Hughes pulled two back from spot kicks for Roofing. Jarrow Roofing manager Richie McLoughlin said: "We might have lost, but the young lads still did well."

Newton Aycliffe manager Alan Oliver said: "We weren't at the races in the first 20 minutes, and we could easily have been more than one goal down. We did well in the last 20 minutes of the first half, and the first 20 of the second half." Meanwhile, assistant manager Brian Atkinson has announced that he has quit the club because of personal commitments, and midfielder Tom Portas has gone to Evostik League side Whitby Town.

Newcastle Benfield easily beat Billingham Town 5-2 , with five different players getting their names on the scoresheet. Benfield were 4-0 up at one stage.

In the second division, Crook Town and Northallerton drew 1-1 at the Millfield. Andy Appleby scored for Crook, with Gavin Parkin scoring for Northallerton. Crook joint manager Paul Adamson said: "We didn't play well, but we got a point and that can't be a bad sign." Northallerton manager Mark Fanning said: "It was a very good competitive game . There wasn't much between the two sides but on chances I thought we just about shaded it. We hit the post and bar and their keeper made four top class saves. Still it's a good point away from home."

Esh Winning striker Craig Mickle scored a hat trick in their comfortable 6-1 win at Washington, to put them second in the table behind leaders team Northumbria. Manager Andrew Soppitt said: "We wrapped the game up inside the first 20 mins with 3 quick goals, 2 cracking goals from Craig Mickle and an Ian Ward header. We started very bright and quick, going forward with great tempo and caused lots of problems. Second half we just kept shape and picked Washington off on the counter. We've started to put a few good performances together and slowly climbed back up the table."

STL Northern League Division One.

Guisborough 2 (Henry 2) Spennymoor Town 1 (Moore), Newcastle Benfield 5 (Teasdale, Turnbull, Dodsworth, Patterson, Chilton) Billingham Town 2 (C Dunwell, Owens), Newton Aycliffe 5 (Gardner 3, Jardine, Knox) Jarrow Roofing 3 (Hughes 2, Thirkell), Norton 2 (Hall og, Magowan) West Auckland 2 (Nicholls, Coad).

Division Two.

Crook 1 (Appleby) Northallerton 1 (Parkin), Washington 1 (Wears) Esh Winning 6 (Mickle 3, Ward 2, Coates).

Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup.

West Allotment 1 (Rue) Birtley 1 (Marron) aet Birtley won 4-3 on penalties.