West Auckland went top of the table last night, but they were denied victory by a late equaliser in a cracking 4-4 draw at Penrith.

West took the lead when Penrith defender Paul Pattinson turned a Stuart Banks cross into his own net after 2 minutes, but Martin Coleman levelled with a 25 yarder.

Ben Jackson put Penrith into the lead with a left foot shot from long distance, but after 55 minutes Banks set up Elliott Gardner to score from 12 yards. Jackson again put Penrith back into the lead, but West levelled through Mark Hudson from the edge of the box on 81 minutes. Gardner thought he’d won it when he scored from Banks’ cross, but five minutes into stoppage time Grant Davidson levelled from 20 yards. Penrith are still third bottom, a point behind Jarrow Roofing with two games in hand. West manager Peter Dixon said: "Two of their goals were unbelievable, they'll never score another two like that. Last Saturday, I was critical of the players becasue I thought they didn't show enough desire at Bishop Auckland, but after the game tonight, they've showed me that they really do, It hurts them that we've dropped points, and I didn't see enough of that last weekend. But we're still in pole position, if we win all our games and Spennymoor win all of theirs, then we'll be champions."

In the second division, Gillford Park’s bus was delayed for almost an hour on their way to Chester-le-Street, but they still won 2-1 to clinch the third promotion place. Marc Shiel gave Gillford Park the lead early on, and after Alex Ryan levelled for Chester, Gavin Barton got the winner for the Cumbrians. Chester manager Anth Smith said: "Gillford Park dominated from start to finish, and were worthy winners. We had three enforced changes which made us a young team and the youngsters couldn't cope with Gillford's experience." Stephen Butterworth (2), Carl Chillingsworth and Gary Cook scored for Northallerton, with Sam MacIntosh replying.

Northallerton comfortably won at Whickham by 4-1. Manager Mark Fanning said: "We controlled the game from the start. Two goals in each half gave us a comfortable lead before a late penalty spoilt the clean sheet. Overall, very pleased though."