NPL round-up | FC United come from behind to win as top three pull away from chasing pack

The game of the weekend came at Bishopton Road West, as FC United of Manchester battled from two goals down against fellow promotion-chasers Stockton Town to come away with all three points.

A Josh Scott double either side of the half had Michael Dunwell’s side with a healthy lead on the hour mark, but goals from new recruit Donald Chimalilo and a brace from Jordan Buckley in the final 10 minutes completed yet another remarkable comeback from Mark Beesley’s men..

FC United have been no strangers to salvaging points and picking up wins late on, and this one extended the points gap to 10 between themselves and Stockton, who remain out of the top five.

They remain third though, after both Hebburn Town and Hednesford Town also picked up three points.

Hebburn and Gainsborough Trinity exchanged blows in an electric opening 12 minutes at the Hebburn Sports Ground. Daniel Moore’s side raced into a two-goal lead inside nine minutes, before Jack Leckie halved the deficit three minutes later.

Ultimately, that would be all in terms of goals, as the Hornets maintained their position at the top and denied Russ Wilcox’s men the chance to trim the gap between the two to just five points.

And Hednesford survived an early scare at Bamber Bridge, coming from behind to win 3-1.

Isaac Abankwah put the hosts ahead, but they went into half-time behind after goals from Omari Sterling-James and Ahkeem Rose. 

Jake Jervis came off the bench to seal the win three minutes from time, as Hednesford extended the Brig’s winless run to five games and ensured that the title race remained in their hands.

Hebburn, Hednesford and FC United’s wins also ensured that three of their immediate challengers lost some ground, but they’ll all be pleased that some of the others with outside chances of crashing the title race also fell to defeat too.

First, Warrington Rylands’ six-game unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of Cleethorpes Town.

Callum Ainley netted the only goal of the game to ensure that Cleethorpes came away with a big three points which eased any relegation fears that may have been creeping in.

Rylands are now eight points adrift of top spot, having been beaten at the Quickline Arena for only the second time in league action this season.

And, Lancaster City weren’t able to string consecutive wins together as they were beaten by Warrington Town.

The Dolly Blues entered half-time ahead thanks to an overhead kick from Nic Evangelinos, but were unable to prevent the fightback from Paul Carden’s side, the Yellows netting twice after the break to pick up all three points on their travels.

That’s now back-to-back wins for Warrington, who shaved the points gap between themselves and the top five to just five points.

Down at the bottom, and the big six-pointers between sides in the relegation zone and those just out both ended level.

Hyde United and Prescot Cables played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Project Solar Stadium, in a game where the momentum swung back and forth.

Cables took an early lead through Paul Murphy-Worrell, but were pegged back before half-time thanks to Edy Maieco.

Hyde took the lead after the break, but like in the first half, Prescot had the answers, equalising through John Murphy with just over 20 minutes remaining.

It’s a draw that stops the rot for Cables, who had lost four straight games heading into this weekend. As for Hyde, they secured a fourth draw in six since Michael Clegg came in, and an eighth in their last 12 games.

Meanwhile, Stocksbridge Park Steels were minutes away from pulling level with the two sides directly ahead of them, but they were pegged back late on by Morpeth Town at Bracken Moor.

Morpeth were reduced to 10 men just 16 minutes into the game when Jeff Henderson was given his marching orders. Stocksbridge would take advantage, and Paul Iggulden gave the hosts the lead after half an hour.

However, they weren’t able to kill the game off, and Nic Bollado popped up with an equaliser in the 90th minute to ensure that the points were shared.

That’s now back-to-back draws for the Highwaymen off the back of three straight defeats, and it was a needed point which stopped them from falling to the foot of the table.

Workington remain there, but they’re now six unbeaten after they left Guiseley with a 1-1 draw.

Like last week, Dan Hopper put the Reds into the lead early on, but unlike against Rushall Olympic, they were unable to hold out for what would have been a third straight win, despite Alex Mitchell saving a Guiseley penalty later on in the half.

Instead, another penalty came the way of Ian Richards’ side in the second 45, and Jordan Thewlis made no mistake, netting the equaliser to make sure that they got the point needed to cross 40 for the season.

Elsewhere down near the bottom, neither Whitby Town or Rushall Olympic were able to put some daylight between themselves and the relegation fight below as they, too, battled to a draw at Dales Lane.

Whitby had the lead twice in either half but were pegged back both times, meaning that the Seasiders have now gone four unbeaten, but with three draws in that time.

As for the Pics, they have also drawn three of their last four, and remain five points above the drop.

And at Hurst Cross, Leek Town ended their brief four-game losing run to take another step towards survival this season, running out 1-0 winners against Ashton United.

Connor Heath’s effort in the second half was all that separated the two sides as Leek leapfrogged Ashton into 12th place.

Results - Saturday 7 March

• Ashton United 0-1 Leek Town
• Bamber Bridge 1-3 Hednesford Town
• Guiseley 1-1 Workington
• Hebburn Town 2-1 Gainsborough Trinity
• Hyde United 2-2 Prescot Cables
• Lancaster City 1-2 Warrington Town
• Rushall Olympic 2-2 Whitby Town
• Stocksbridge Park Steels 1-1 Morpeth Town
• Stockton Town 2-3 FC United of Manchester
• Warrington Rylands 0-1 Cleethorpes Town

Check out the latest fixtures and results from across the NPL East Division, NPL Midlands Division and NPL West Division.