Northern League: Chester-le-Street miss out at West Allotment Celtic as only three games beat the wet conditions

The sole Division Two match, on the artificial surface at Druid Park, brought an uneventful first half, which ended goalless.

West Allotment finally opened the scoring, in the 63rd minute, with Ryan McGorrigan firing past goalkeeper Jack Wilson.

Jonathon Hirst doubled Allotment’s lead in the 90th minute.

The Cestrians struck back immediately through Mark Peck, but it was too little, too late and Celtic took the three points to draw level on 36 points with 13th-placed Chester in mid-table, albeit having played three games more.

The other two matches played were both in Division One.

Newton Aycliffe pulled off a great away result, defeating FA Vase semi-finalists Stockton Town 2-1 at Bishopton Road West to move 10 points clear of the drop zone.

Keeper James Winter was outstanding throughout in keeping the Teessiders at bay and inspiring only a third away league win of the campaign.

Aycliffe took the lead after just three minutes. They were awarded a free-kick just outside the box and Thibault Charmey smashed the delivery into the right-hand side of the goal, giving goalkeeper Michael Arthur no chance.

Stockton equalised six minutes later, Sonni Coleman firing home, but, in the 35th minute, the visitors regained the lead as Ben Trotter beat Arthur.

In the second half, the Anchors applied pressure as they desperately searched for an equaliser.

They went close with chances from Jamie Owens, Kevin Hayes and Coleman, but Winter stood firm to clinch a welcome success for the visitors.

Aycliffe press officer Bob Wood said: “We were delighted to go to Stockton and come away with all three points.

“A good free-kick supplied our first goal and the second was very well worked.

“We relied on a couple of good saves from our keeper. Stockton pressured us for the win, but we hung on in there. We have to be pleased with the result.”

Stockton will hope for better this weekend when they visit Marske United in the first leg of their FA Vase semi-final.

In the only other game to beat the weather, Penrith beat Team Northumbria 3-0 to climb four points clear of third-bottom Jarrow Roofing, albeit having played four games more

Home captain Grant Davidson stabbed home the opener on 30 minutest at the Frenchfields Stadium, after keeper Greg Purvis blocked his initial header on the line.

Five minutes into the second half, Martyn Coleman outpaced the Team Northumbria defence and fired home, only to be ruled offside.

Jonny Murray scored a superb second goal for Penrith in the 65th minute. He picked the ball up 40 yards out, twisted and turned past two defenders, and curled a low shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

On 72 minutes, Murray supplied an excellent through ball to Coleman, who outmuscled his defender and calmly rounded keeper Purvis before slotting the ball home to wrap the game up.

Team Northumbria are due to host Marske United tonight, the visitors desperate for the go-ahead to ease their massive fixture backlog.

Tomorrow’s games might have a better chance of being played, with the fixtures including Seaham Red Star at home to Newcastle Benfield and Sunderland RCA away to Whitley Bay.