Blue Square Premier Round-up

Altrincham 1-1 Chester City
Attendance: 1,737
Mid-table Altrincham shared the spoils with Chester City, who already appear doomed for relegation after being deducted 25 points. Colin Little`s header gave the Moss Rose crowd reason for celebration when he put Altrincham in front after 25 minutes, but Chester equalised early in the second half through Ben Wilkinson to gain a point which keeps them bottom on -23 points.

Eastbourne Borough 1-2 Ebbsfleet United
Attendance: 1,165
Ebbsfleet`s topsy-turvy start to the 2009-2010 season continued against Eastbourne at the Langney Sports Club, a last-minute strike from Simon Thomas – who had earlier missed a penalty – earning The Fleet their first victory of the campaign.

Grays Athletic 2-4 AFC Wimbledon
Attendance: 1,762
AFC Wimbledon won this six-goal thriller at the Recreation Ground to move third in the table, but Grays made the Dons work hard for the three points as they came back from 2-0 down to equalise before Wimbledon wrapped up the points. First-half strikes from Brett Johnson (10) and Jon Main (penalty 21) saw last season`s Conference South champions race into a 2-0 lead, before Sam Gaughran pulled a goal back for Grays on the half hour. The home side drew level early in the second period through Danny Charge, before Jon Main`s second penalty of the afternoon put the Dons back in front. A stoppage-time effort from Danny Kedwell secured Wimbledon the points.

Hayes & Yeading United 3-4 Salisbury City
Attendance: 429
Hayes and Yeading entertained Salisbury in another thriller, which the visitors won courtesy of a Matthew Tubbs hat-trick at Hayes Road. Esmond James rifled home from 18 yards to give United the lead on 40 minutes, before Tubbs equalised with a header just before half-time. The game then swung Salisbury`s way when Tubbs scored a goal from 25 yards out four minutes after the re-start, and Salisbury gave themselves a two-goal cushion when Chris Flood scored two minutes later. The hosts rallied, and a strike from Scott Fitzgerald and a 20-yard effort from Dale Binns brought the game level at 3-3. Tubbs then sent the travelling supporters wild when he sealed a thoroughly entertaining game with his hat-trick goal to make it 4-3 to Salisbury.

Histon 0-2 Stevenage Borough
Attendance: 1,159
10-man Stevenage, who had Peter Venceti sent off for violence after just six minutes play, secured three points at Bridge Road against Histon. Goals from Scot Laird (12) and Yemi Odubade (62). The home fans misery was compounded in the 68th minute when Danny Wright missed the Stutes best goal-scoring opportunity of the afternoon, blazing a penalty over the bar.

Mansfield Town 0-0 Kettering
Attendance: 4,034
David Holdsworth`s Mansfield Town were unable to take advantage of Oxford`s draw at home to Forest Green, as they fired blanks against in-form Kettering, who are now unbeaten in four matches.

Oxford United 0-0 Forest Green Rovers
Attendance: 6,338
The Conference`s highest crowd of the day saw league leaders Oxford have their advantage at the summit cut to one point after being held to a highly-surprising goalless draw against struggling Forest Green Rovers at the Kassam Stadium. The visitors – who recently confirmed the protracted departure of their manager Jim Harvey – went into Monday`s match on the back of six straight defeats. Former Cardiff City forward Matt Green went close on several occasions but the hosts could not find a breakthrough. Oxford boss Chris Wilder told the BBC: “It was a fantastic effort by the supporters – the players didn’t give them much to cheer about, and credit to the opposition but we were pretty poor.”

Rushden & Diamonds 1-1 Cambridge United
Attendance: 2,344
On a day of five draws in the Conference Rushden and Cambridge fought out a 1-1 stalemate at Nene Park. Rushden defender Jamie Stuart grabbed his first goal of the season to put Justin Edinburgh`s side in front midway through the second half, but former Rushden defender Wayne Hatswell scored against his old club seven minutes later to earn Cambridge a share of the spoils.

Tamworth 2-1 Kidderminster Harriers
Attendance: 1,237
Newly-promoted Tamworth continued their excellent start to the season with a home win over Kidderminster at The Lamb Ground, in a game that game to life with three second-half goals. Nick Wright drilled the home side ahead minuted into the second period after a poorly-defended free-kick. Alex Rodman then doubled The Lambs advantage when he converted Jake Sheridan`s pass. Chris McPhee’s penalty after 72 minutes made the closing stages interesting, but Tamworth held on for a win which moved them up to sixth place in the Conference table.

Wrexham 0-0 Barrow
Attendance: 3,760
The Welshmen missed another opportunity to climb up the table as they ground out a dire draw with Barrow at the Racecourse Ground. In a bad-tempered match consisting of six bookings, Barrow boss David Bayliss was sent to the stand for persistent dissent. Wrexham`s former Wales international Dean Saunders told the BBC: ‘I’m disappointed because you want to win at home and put on a show for the fans. We played excellently in the opening half-an-hour. We made some chances but didn’t score them.”