Wood gets debut goal as Cestrians beat Durham
Debutant Harry Wood made an immediate impact for Chester-le-Street Town as he found the net in their 3-1 win against struggling Durham City in the Northern League second division.
The Citizens took a surprise lead at Moor Park when Anthony Chapman got his first goal for the club midway through the first half.
A Jack Oliver brace put Colin Wake’s side in control and former Washington striker Wood secured the win with his debut goal four minutes from full-time.
Despite the defeat Durham City assistant manager Stephen Durrant was impressed with his side.
He said: “It was a performance to be proud of, despite playing for 40 minutes with ten men and having no outfield substitutes.
“We took the lead and that’s the fourth time we have done that against top teams, but we couldn’t sustain it over 90 minutes with half of our team unavailable. I think points are coming.”
The win keeps the Cestrians within touching distance of Division Two’s top three and they remain level on points with third-placed Northallerton Town.
The North Yorkshire outfit eased to a 3-0 win at West Allotment Celtic thanks to goals from Aaron Ramsbottom and Chris Emms and an own goal from Tony Lucas.
Billingham Town continued their march towards promotion as they made it 26 league games unbeaten with a 3-0 home win against Esh Winning.
Lee Moore, Stephen Oakley and Craig Hutchinson all found the net as the Bedford Terrace club maintained their eight-point lead at the top of the table.
Thornaby lie in second place after a Jamie Poole brace helped them come from behind to claim a 2-1 home win against struggling Brandon United.
Washington’s woeful run of form continued with their 3-1 defeat against Heaton Stannington.
Goals from Thibault Charmey, David Mason and Connor Campbell meant that Mark Gibbon’s side were already condemned to a ninth consecutive defeat by the time Fraser Colling grabbed a late consolation for the Mechanics.
Jarrow came from behind to take all three points at inform Willington.