Conference Round-up: Feb 19

Leaders Barnet still hold a commanding 13-point advantage but the cracks are showing after they slumped to a 4-1 defeat at Accrington, who moved up into second place as a result.

Stanley boss John Coleman was delighted with his side who produced their best football of the season to leave the Bees starting to look anxiously over their shoulders, with 12 games left in which to seal the championship.

Lee McEvilly notched his 11th league goal of the season after 12 minutes to start the rout at the Interlink Express Stadium, and 10 minutes into the second period Rory Prendergast doubled the advantage. Barnet stayed in with a chance until a storming last six minutes in which Paul Mullin and Ian Craney scored within sixty seconds to make it 4-0 before Conference goal king Giuliano Grazioli grabbed a consolation for the Londoners a minute later.

"Maybe the penny has dropped with us now, " said Coleman. "We can play like that every week. Going forward we are as good as anybody in the league."

Woking and Hereford are right behind Accrington, separated from the Lancashire outfit only by goal difference.

Woking claimed a straightforward 2-0 win at York thanks to two goals late in each half by their leading scorer Justin Richards. It was the Surrey side's fourth straight success and lifted them into the play off zone for the first time this season.

Hereford built on last week's impressive win at Underhill by edging out Canvey Island 1-0 in a rather dour encounter at Edgar Street. Midfielder Danny Williams claimed the only goal seven minutes before half-time.

Aldershot shared the spoils with Halifax Town in a dull 0-0 draw at the Recreation Ground, leaving home boss Terry Brown unimpressed with Fax's defensive tactics.

"It's frustrating as a manager that a team comes here and plays one up front and all the others behind the ball," he fumed. "But it's my job to break that down and it's not for me to whinge about."

The Shaymen may only have come away with a point, but that was still enough to lift them above slumping Carlisle who fell four places to 8th after going down to a 1-0 defeat at improving Dagenham & Redbridge.

The Daggers won their opening three games to top the table back in August but had been losing ground for months until a recent surge has seen them jump back into play off contention. Manager John Still enthused about this display, achieved with a very young side, for whom Paul Bruce grabbed the only goal in the 67th minute.

"No result this season has given me more pleasure," he said. "This was a really great win - a fantastic result for us and a really great performance. Our back four was young and inexperienced, playing against a full time club, yet we acquitted ourselves fantastically."

At the bottom, the key basement battle between Northwich and Farnborough was won by the Cheshire side who moved out of the relegation zone for the first time since the 10-point penalty was imposed on them for going into administration.

Vics claimed the points thanks to two Jonny Allan goals after 64 and 72 minutes. Another former Carlisle player in Carlos Roca made his debut after arriving on loan from Brunton Park in the week. The result took Northwich one point above their visitors and they have two games in hand.

While Northwich are now favourites to beat the drop, its looking increasingly likely that Forest Green will be going in the wrong direction after they crashed 4-1 to in-form Burton Albion. The Brewers have rid themselves of any lingering threat of demotion with a string of good results since Christmas. Craig Dudley netted twice, with Dale Anderson and Jon Shaw also on target for Nigel Clough's men. Mark Beesley scored for Rovers.

Leigh RMI are 18 points from safety and doomed to the drop but they did at least make a match of it against play off hopefuls Exeter City. The last time the Grecians visited Greater Manchester they were playing in the palatial surroundings of Old Trafford, but at dingy Hilton Park they had to battle tough pitch conditions before Sean Devine clinched the points with a 32nd-minute shot.