....Consett on Saturday felt like a victory after they scored twice in the dying minutes.

Bishops, in second place before the game, needed to get something to keep their title hopes alive, and the draw means that they are eight points behind the Steelmen.

“The draw felt like a win after the game,” said Chandler. “We’re still in the title race, and the good thing is, that everybody – players, fans and directors – is pulling in the same direction.

“The draw has given us all some extra belief that we can keep on picking up wins over the next two or three months.

“I thought our substitute, Michael Hoganson, made a big difference when he came on, because we managed to get some good balls into their box and cause Consett problems.”

Consett took the lead on 13 minutes with a good effort by Michael Mackay, but Bishops hit the bar through Callum Patton before half time.

Aksel Juul cleverly set up Luke Carr to beat Nick Liversedge to put Consett 2-0 up five minutes after half time, but Chris Winn got Bishops back into the game with a header from a left-wing cross.

Consett went 3-1 up when Matty Cornish scored from a tight angle but then they had striker Michael Sweet sent-off for two yellows.

Winn set up Hoganson to fire a second for Bishops in the last-minute of normal time, and Shaun Ryder fired a terrific shot into the top corner for a point in the 3rd minute of stoppage time.

West Auckland Town gained a much-needed victory by 3-2 at Penrith to put them in fifth place.

Amar Purewal put them in front from an Alex Francis through ball, but Penrith hit back to lead 2-1 on the hour-mark. However, Purewal scored from the spot to give him 14 for the season, then Chris Hunter scored a rare goal for the winner from Adam Mitchell’s corner.

West Auckland manager Gary Forrest said; “It was a good win. That’s five on the trot now, so we need to keep it going.”

Newton Aycliffe are unbeaten in their last three away league games thanks to a very good 3-0 away win at Ashington, all their goals coming in the last 20 minutes of the first half.

Ben Wood put them into the lead with a left foot shot on the turn, then Tom Gavin fired a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner.

The Ashington keeper parried a Wood shot and Vinny Gash pounced on a rebound for the third.

Newton Aycliffe manager Deano Browne said; “I thought we were comfortably the best team. Ashington had a couple of 10-minute spells but we kept them at bay. Some of the football we played was really good and we scored three good goals, all the hard work on the training ground paid off.” Aycliffe are now up to eleventh spot.

In the other games, Dunston are now up to second in the table with four games in hand on Consett after they won their local derby by 2-1 at Whickham.

Sunderland RCA lost ground on the leaders after they lost 2-1 at North Shields.

Seaham Red Star gave their survival hopes a boost by winning 4-3 at Stockton Town – only their second win of the season -- while Guisborough Town drew 1-1 with Whitley Bay.

Newcastle Benfield won 3-2 at Sunderland Ryhope CW.

In the Second Division, Tow Law Town stunned Chester-le-Street with a 3-0 win, scoring all their goals in the space of 10 second half minutes through Lewis Martin (2) and Dale Milburn.

Lawyers are now up to sixth from bottom, while Chester have dropped to third.

Chester-le-Street manager Colin Wake said; “It was a very poor second half performance and deservedly we got nothing from the game. We had no energy and drive, never mind quality in the final third. Tow Law deserved the win without doubt for being better than us in the second half.”

Tow Law manager Steve Murray said; “It was a frustrating feeling after a performance like that. Top notch.”

Willington were within minutes of beating league leaders Billingham Town at Bedford Terrace, but conceded two late goals.

Jeff Smith fired Willington into the lead but was later sent-off for two yellows with 3 minutes left.

Billingham scored late on through sub Matt Robinson and Jack Connor.

Willington manager Rob Lee said; “We were winning 1-0 and looked very comfortable, then in the last ten minutes a very suspect yellow card saw us go down to ten men. Then some more poor decisions saw Billingham pull one back, and then in stoppage time they scored the winner. I think we deserved at least a point, we put in a good performance.”

Northallerton Town bounced back to form with a 4-0 away win at fellow promotion-challengers Jarrow with goals by Aaron Ramsbottom, Nicky Martin, Andrew Ramsbottom and Kerry Hedley.

Northallerton manager Darren Trotter said; “That was probably our best performance of the season. The first half goals were a joy to watch but the biggest pleasing thing was how we managed the opposition when they were having a good spell of the game.

“A clean sheet and hard to find a man of the match, it was a great team performance.” Northallerton are now up to fourth.

Durham City are well and truly stuck in the bottom two after they were easily beaten 4-1 at home by Crook Town.

They were 3-0 up by half-time through Chris Dunwell, an own goal and Phil Caley, and even though Jamie Hayman pulled a goal back, Caley made sure near the end.

Durham manager Wayne Gredziak said; “Before the game, I thought we were heading in the right direction but Crook’s display against us showed we are a million miles away. Crook outplayed us and deserved the three points. I can pinpoint what the problem is but it's hard to rectify when you can't attract players because of our current league position. I will continue to give it my all and will try to rectify it along with the support and hard work of everybody off the pitch.”

Crook manager Jamie Tunstall said; “I'm delighted with the three points, our first win on the road this season. I thought first half we were exceptional and really dominated the game. Our third goal wouldn’t have looked out of place on Match of The Day, a great team goal. Second half we took our foot off the gas and Durham, credit to them put us under pressure. It was a positive to look at the bench and really be able to make an impact.”

Esh Winning thought that they should have picked something up at Bilingham Synthonia instead of going down 1-0.

Esh Winning manager Tony Boakes said; “We’re disappointed not to have come away with something. We missed several chances in the first half. We tried to contain them in the second half and we gave away a deserved penalty. No complaints about that, but once again one or two poor decisions are costing us points.”

Brandon United were beaten 2-0 at Ryton & Crawcrook Albion to stay second bottom.

In the other Second Division games, Thornaby are now up to second after coming from behind to beat Heaton Stannington 2-1 at Teesdale Park.

Redcar Athletic and West Allotment shared the points in an eight-goal thriller at Green Lane, while Washington beat Bedlington Terriers 2-1.