CONFERENCE: WEEKEND ROUND-UP
Nationwide Conference leaders Barnet stretched their advantage at the top to 13 points on Saturday as three goals in the last half-hour of the match gave them another impressive victory away from home.
The Bees fell behind to Gravesend & Northfleet in the 15th minute through a strange own goal from Ismail Yakubu and it was not until the 61st minute that they drew level, thanks to Liam Hatch. Normal service was resumed four minutes later however, as Nicky Bailey put the visitors ahead, and Dean Sinclair sealed another away win for all-conquering table-toppers in the 73rd minute.
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Carlisle fell further behind their seemingly unbeatable title rivals following a 1-0 defeat at Tamworth, who are now pushing for a place in the promotion play-offs. Matthew Redmile struck the winner for The Lambs, in the 68th minute, heading in decisively from Lee Colkin's corner. The Cumbrians came close to an equaliser through their on-loan Wigan star Magno Vieira, but his first effort was volleyed over and his second was superbly saved by Tamworth keeper Ryan Price.
Halifax moved up to third in the table with a 4-1 win over Canvey Island. December's Nationwide Conference Player of the Month Craig Midgley opened and finished the scoring, his second goal a 35-yard screamer. His strike partner Neil Ross also fired home from long-range for the Shaymen with an expertly placed free-kick. Martin Foster was Halifax's other goalscorer while Ben Sedgemore was on target for visiting Canvey, who remain at the lower end of the table but well clear of the relegation zone.
Promotion hopefuls Hereford and Scarborough played out a goalless draw at the McCain Stadium, in a game that produced few notable chances. The Bulls were not helped by the loss of their top scorer Lee Mills just before half time and both teams seemed to be happy to take a point as the Seadogs preserved their unbeaten home record.
Woking and Morecambe also failed to find the net in an uninspiring game that will have disappointed both sides as they look to push on to put themselves in contention for a play-off place.
Crawley climbed ahead of Scarborough into sixth position with a convincing 4-0 win over Burton Albion, with Simon Wormull the star performer as he scored one and set up the other three for the home side. Neil Jenkins slotted in the first goal following Wormull's long clearance, and the midfielder made it 2-0 himself with a fine 25-yard striker seven minutes before the break. In the second half, Wormull passed to Alan Tait who struck the third, and he capped an excellent display by supplying the cross that Danny Marney converted in the 69th minute.
Accrington Stanley sounded an emphatic warning to their rivals with a thumping 6-0 success at lowly Leigh RMI. The game was over as a contest by half time as Stanley struck three times in the final few minutes of the half, adding to Ian Craney's 26th-minute effort.
Paul Mullin scored the visitors' second goal on 44 minutes before Rory Prendergast and Paul Howarth added two more in first-half injury time. Prendergast grabbed his second of the match in the 64th minute and Craney also struck another to complete the rout with quarter of an hour remaining. The result keeps Accrington in fourth position and leaves Leigh firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, having claimed just seven points from 21 matches so far this season.
Stevenage Borough kept themselves in the hunt for a shot at promotion as they came from behind to edge out Exeter in a five-goal thriller at Broadhall Way. Anthony Elding put Boro ahead with his 10th goal of the season, but Steve Flack hit back for The Grecians in injury time at the end of the first half, and scored again within 75 seconds to send the visitors into the break a goal to the good.
Dino Maamria was the hero for the home side however, as he headed Stevenage level on the hour and then scored with a spectacular overhead-kick seven minutes from time to clinch victory.
Exeter boss Alex Inglethorpe admitted afterwards: "I felt we got what we deserved - which was nothing. We didn't deserve to win. I didn't think we did ourselves justice, and it was disappointing to lose in the manner in which we did. I don't think we defended particularly well. The reason why the performances are as they are is probably down to fatigue."
Dagenham & Redbridge showed some of the form that saw them at the top end of the table at the beginning of the season as they saw of Aldershot to move within two points of their beaten opponents in the table. A Lee Flynn penalty got the ball rolling for the Essex side after Shots keeper Nikki Bull fouled Chris Moore, and Anwar Uddin, who had replaced Lee Vickers early on, put the Daggers two up with a 30-yard belter six minutes before the break.
Craig Mackail-Smith, Glen Southam and Paul Bruce all missed chances to make it 3-0 in the second-half, but Moore made sure of the points with a firm header after 69 minutes.
Forest Green Rovers earned a valuable point away from home after drawing 1-1 at Farnborough Town. Rovers took the lead in the 13th minute through Charlie Griffin, who headed in from Ryan Williams' cross, but Farnborough drew level 14 minutes later as Stephen Hughes hammered in with a powerful left-foot strike. The relegation-threatened side had goalkeeper Steve Perrin to thank for earning them a point though, as he made two excellent saves to keep out Michael Kightly early in the second half.
Northwich Victoria picked up a much-needed three points to end their three-game losing streak and drag York further towards the relegation zone. Jon Allan scored from Steve Garvey's cross to put the Vics ahead in the 11th minute, and Mark Devlin headed the home side further in front 15 minutes later. Neil Brisco then wrapped up a superb first half for the relegation-threatened side when he struck the third goal just before the break, leaving York's caretaker boss Viv Busby fuming about his side's performance.
Busby said: "The first-half performance was the worst I've seen. The first 10 minutes were good, but we conceded a goal from their first attack and we just capitulated - we didn't look anything like a football team. The back four were all over the place, there was no work ethic all over the park, and we were just sloppy - the consistency's not there."
York are now just five points outside the relegation zone and eight points ahead of Northwich, who have had to fight back from a ten point deduction enforced after they went into administration in September.
