Championship
Audenshaw Dynamo 4 Manchester Central 1
Dynamo Burnley 1 Liverpool St Helens 2
Excelsior Marlow 3 Gainsborough Trinity 2
Hungaria 3 Blyth Spartans 2
Red Star Mossley 4 Hartlepool Petrochemical 3
Spartak-Slavia 3 Locomotive Crewe Alexandra 1
Stalybridge Celtic 3 Northwich Victoria 0
Wrexham 2 Marine 0
Second Division
Atletico Espanol 1 Merthyr Tydfil 4
Crystal Palace 2 Excelsior Benelux 0
Manchester Newton Heath 0 Bradford Park Avenue 1
Marxist Polytechnic 2 Hendon Hotspur 2
Newcastle Blue Star 2 Inter-Italiano 1
Sheffield Wednesday 3 Bohemians 2
South Liverpool Red Star 2 Newcastle-Gateshead Dynamo 0
Torpedo Tranmere 1 Caledonia Thistle 0
Marine’s impressive ten-match unbeaten run ran aground at gale- and rain-lashed Wrexham, the hosts adapting to the inclement weather conditions much the better and prevailing through the storm by 2 – 0, a vast improvement on their previous 7 – 1 trouncing at Manchester Central.
Stalybridge Celtic and Spartak-Slavia, thrice-scoring victors both, consequently advance to a mere point adrift of the Mariners, with fellow winners Liverpool St Helens, Hungaria and Red Star Mossley tied two points further behind.
Central, meanwhile, were as abject in a 1 – 4 derby defeat at Audenshaw Dynamo, ultimately fortunate to get away so lightly, as they had been irresistible in thrashing Wrexham. Similarly disappointing were Gainsborough Trinity, succumbing 2 – 3 at Excelsior Marlow, who were only a point and a place outside the relegation places, already a sixth defeat in a season Trinity had hoped would see them mount a concerted challenge for the Championship after last term’s runners-up finish and Cup triumph but currently sees them lagging behind in sixth, two points behind Mossley, whose topsy-turvy 4 - 3 victory over Hartlepool Petrochemical plants the losers firmly at the bottom of the pile.
Such is the congested nature of matters towards the top of the Second Division, Bohemians’ narrow 2 – 3 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday saw them drop from second to fifth position, being replaced by their conquerors in the process, the Owls now just a point behind leaders Marxist Polytechnic after the students’ draw with Hendon Hotspur. Torpedo Tranmere and Crystal Palace are third and fourth after victories, whilst a fifth game without defeat sees Bradford Park Avenue in sixth.
In the battle of the bottom two, Merthyr Tydfil’s conclusive 4 – 1 win at Atletico Espanol enabled the Welshmen to climb a heady five places to tenth, such is the tight nature of things at the wrong end of the table too: five points separate seventh-place Hendon and Inter-Italiano in eighth, marking a distinct division between those seeking to gain promotion and those battling to remain within the national set-up.
