NORTH: WEEKEND ROUND-UP

It was an interesting weekend in the Nationwide North as teams at the top end of the table all faced fellow top-eight opponents.

Peter Duffield hit his 11th and 12th goals of the season to give leaders Alfreton Town a 2-1 win at Altrincham, helping them stretch their lead over second-placed Southport to five points.

Duffield struck a minute before half time and in the last minute of the match to give David Lloyd's side an important away win, on a day that saw leading challengers Southport and Kettering Town fall further off the pace.

Southport could only manage a draw at home to Worksop, who equalized through Gary Townsend, an hour after Neil Robinson's eighth minute opener for the home side. Kettering meanwhile were beaten 2-0 at home by Lancaster City, who moved within three points of their vanquished opponents after two goals from Peter Thompson.

Harrogate Town also lost ground on the leaders after a 2-1 defeat at Redditch United. Leading 1-0 after 65 minutes, the Yorkshire side were rocked by two late goals from the home team, who equalized through Richard Softley and won the game courtesy of the division's joint top scorer Norman Sylla's 13th Nationwide North goal of the season. Redditch are now just a point behind Harrogate and a further two adrift of second-placed Southport.

Runcorn FC Halton pushed themselves further into the promotion picture with a closely fought 3-2 win at Gainsborough Trinity, who were reduced to ten men after just four minutes. Despite being a man down, the home side scored first but Runcorn were level on the half hour, through Danny Byrne, and Nicky Young put them ahead nine minutes later. Trinity fought gamely and equalized early in the second half but Lee Parle put the visitors back in front and they were able to hold on to clinch the three points.

Both Hinckley United and Worcester City saw their games fall victim to the weather, at Stalybridge Celtic and Bradford (Park Avenue) respectively.

Nuneaton Borough had to work hard to beat a spirited Droylsden, but they just edged it in a five-goal thriller thanks to a last-minute goal from Stuart Whittaker, who also struck Boro's second goal in the 80th minute.

Meanwhile, at the lower end of the table, Moor Green and Barrow produced even more excitement as they shared seven goals. Barrow raced into a 3-1 lead thanks to a first-half hat-trick from Glen Murray, who opened the scoring and struck twice more after Matty Hall had leveled it. The visitors halved their deficit on 77 minutes when substitute Guy Sanders made an immediate impact, then Richard Follett equalized seven minutes later and Darren Middleton coolly converted a penalty in injury time after Sean Dowdall had been felled in the area, to give Moor Green an amazing victory.

Hucknall Town saw their two-goal half-time lead halved just before the final whistle, but they hung on to beat Stafford Rangers 2-1, while Vauxhall Motors and Ashton United failed to score any goals in their 'six-pointer'.