Blue Square Bet Premier Review...

Crawley Town`s lead at the top of the Blue Square Bet Premier table was cut to ten points after they were held to a....

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Published 26th March 2011

...goalless draw at the International Stadium by Gateshead on Saturday.

But it turned out to be a decent result in the end after third-placed Luton Town were beaten 2-1 by Southport who are now fifteen points behind with a game in hand.

Top scorer Matt Tubbs had two goals disallowed in the first half, while Craig McAllister hit the post with a header and Sergio Torres' goal-bound volley from the rebound hit Tubbs, who was lying on the ground and could not get out of the way.

Gateshead were more of a threat in the second half but Reds' keeper Scott Shearer's only save was to push away a drive from Jon Shaw.

Second-placed AFC Wimbledon scrambled to a 1-0 win against Rushden & Diamonds at Kingsmeadow and all-but end the visitors` hopes of making the play-offs.

Danny Kedwell’s 29th minute penalty proved enough for AFC Wimbledon in front of a crowd of 3,069.

Diamonds came under early pressure and Joe Day had a lucky escape when he misjudged Gareth Gwillim’s long throw-in before the ball bounced wide off Ismail Yakubu.

Day slid out to deny Rashid Yussuff but the deadlock was broken on 29 minutes.

Michael Corcoran, who had been booked just earlier, was perhaps fortunate to stay on for a challenge on new Dons` signing Kaid Mohamed and the spot-kick was converted by Kedwell.

Ryan Charles had an equaliser disallowed for offside and Shane Huke hit the post in stoppage-time as Diamonds pushed forward.

In the last minute Charles came close again with a low shot which was pushed wide by Seb Brown to preserve the home win.

Southport boosted their survival hopes with a win over fading Luton Town.

The visitors, who remain in third place but have just one win in five games, took the lead with 15 minutes to go through Matthew Barnes-Homer's sweet strike.

But there was time for an impressive fight back when Alan Moogan headed in Shaun Whalley's cross for 1-1 with 8 minutes remaining.

Kevin Lee completed the turnaround with a close-range header with less than 2 minutes left on the clock.

Southport now sit one point above the relegation zone and have at least one game in hand on the teams below them.

Kidderminster Harriers saw off a spirited Mansfield Town comeback to extend their unbeaten run to a dozen games.

Chris McPhee put Harriers ahead at Filed Mill after 15 minutes when he latched onto Nick Wright's pass to tuck the ball under Stags` keeper David Grof.

After the break Louis Briscoe's shot was cleared off the Harriers line and Adam Murray saw his header saved.

Keith Briggs doubled Harriers' lead on 63 minutes when he fired into the roof of the net before Murray's effort from just inside the area gave Mansfield hope with 11 minutes remaining.

Steve Masterton's first goal for struggling Hayes & Yeading United was not enough to save his new club from defeat to play-off chasers Fleetwood Town at Church Road.

On-loan Crawley Town midfielder Masterton struck in superb fashion with a 25-yard free-kick to give the hosts hope of turning around a 2-0 half-time lead.

However, they could not quite complete what would have been a fine comeback and the only consolation for Hayes was that they remain out of the relegation zone with Forest Green Rovers failing to win.

Fleetwood grabbed the lead in the 12th minute, although the hosts will be disappointed with the manner of the goal conceded.

The home defence allowed a long ball from Shaun Beeley to find its way to Nathan Pond and although his initial effort was blocked, Pond reacted quickest to head home and put the visitors 1-0 up.

The visitors celebrated the killer second goal in first half stoppage time when Sean Clancy won a battle for the ball with Lewis Ferrell and that allowed Jamie McGuire to find Junior Brown, who produced a clinical finish from an acute angle.

But Masterton handed Hayes & Yeading a lifeline in the 50th minute when he struck a superb 20-yard free-kick that Hurst could only divert into the top corner.

The hosts had the ball in the net again just a few minutes later after Pritchard stabbed home another Masterton set-piece, but it was ruled out for offside, but the hosts failed to build on the goal as the visitors held on comfortably in the end.

Jamie Reed's second half strike was enough for York City to see off struggling Histon at Bootham Crescent.

The hosts dominated the first half but David McGurk, Peter Till and Reed all saw efforts well saved by debutant Stutes` keeper Wes Foderingham.

Three minutes into the second half Reed notched his third goal in four games when he got on the end of Till's inviting cross.

The visitors almost grabbed an unlikely point late on but Omer Riza headed over and Zac Attwood volleyed straight at Minstermen keeper Michael Ingham.

Grimsby Town`s new management team of Rob Scott and Paul Hurst saw their side blow a two-goal lead for the second time in a week as Tamworth fought back to earn a 2-2 draw at Blundell Park.

The hosts went ahead after 15 minutes when Rob Eagle converted Michael Coulson's cross.

Mark Hudson's close-range finish doubled the lead shortly after the break before Lambs substitute Kyle Perry reduced the deficit with his first touch on 71 minutes.

With the hosts desperately trying to hold on for all three points, Tom Marshall blasted home an equaliser with 10 minutes remaining.

Struggling Altrincham grabbed a surprise win at the Northern Echo Arena Darlington to dent the hosts' bid for a play-off spot.

The Quakers went close in the opening stages through Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Dan Burn but both players were denied by Alty keeper Stuart Coburn.

After the break Chris Senior and Aaron Brown both forced further good saves from Coburn.

The visitors grabbed all three points when Steven Connors' cross was headed home by Damian Reeves with less than 4 minutes to go.

Barrow's four-match winning streak was brought to an abrupt end with defeat against Bath City at Holker Street.

Paul Rutherford missed a glorious opportunity for the hosts early on while City's Scott Murray flashed an effort wide in a busy opening period.

The with only 6 minutes gone, Lee Phillips picked up the winning goal when he headed home Marc Canham's free-kick.

The Bluebirds' hopes of an equaliser were dashed on 63 minutes when Richie Baker was sent-off for a challenge on Marley Watkins.

Kettering Town all-but secured their status with what turned out to be a comfortable 3-1 win at Eastbourne Borough.

But it needed a penalty save from Willy Gueret when the Poppies were only 1-0 in front to change the game before Marcus Law’s men ran away with it in the second half.

Gueret needed to make a routine save from Jamie Taylor inside the first 3 minutes but it was the Poppies who took an early 7th minute lead.

Jean-Paul Marna found space on the left of the area and got past a defender before seeing his shot parried by Rikki Banks. However, Brett Solkhon was on hand with an easy tap-in.

The game descended into a bit of a scrap after and Boro rarely troubled Gueret’s goal, although Luke O’Neill did need to clear Matt Crabb’s shot off the line before the break.

Eastbourne upped their game and they were given a golden chance to equalise on the hour when O’Neill hauled down George Purcell in the area.

The referee pointed to the spot but Gueret guessed right and pushed away Purcell’s penalty with the rebound going wide.

That sparked the game into life and it was 2-0 with 20 minutes to go when Marcus Kelly found Marna. He skipped to the by-line and pulled the ball back for Nick McKoy to tap into an empty net.

And just 4 minutes later, Kelly stepped up to curl home a free-kick in off the post.

That killed the game as a contest, although Eastbourne did pull one back late on when Taylor fired home after Gueret had saved Simon Weatherstone’s free-kick.