CONSETT kept their championship hopes alive with a thrilling last-minute victory in a game they dominated almost from start to finish. But they had to twice come from behind before Steven Johnson's injury-time winner kept them three points clear at the top of the table.

Kenny Lindoe patched up his walking wounded and made two changes from the side which beat Billingham Town. David Scorer came into the back four and Andrew Cuthbertson into midfield, in place of Jonjo Dickman and Adam Emson. The half-fit pair made the bench, where they were joined by David Johnson, but there was no place for Craig Robson, whose season looks to be over. Synners made six changes to their Durham Challenge Cup-winning side.

Consett went about their visitors from the off, and it took just two minutes for them to almost open the scoring. Cuthbertson's cross from the right was headed down by Chris Scott for Richard Logan, whose rising shot was tipped over by Ben Escritt for a corner. From the flag-kick Carl Piecha's downward header was helped goalwards by Cuthbertson, and hacked away, with the midfielder claiming it had crossed the line.

Gary Ormston then fired over from 10 yards after linking well with Steven Johnson, and David Pounder had a shot which the keeper comfortably dealt with.

Synners were largely pinned back in their own half, but still posed a danger on the break, and Consett were happy to see Danny Earl's lob from the corner of the box bounce wide after he latched onto a long ball and lifted it past the onrushing Jack Norton.

Johnson then had a shot blocked by a defender after combining again with Ormston, and Cuthbertson hit the post with a hooked shot after Ormston flicked on Piecha's long throw-in.

Billingham took the lead against the run of play on 38 minutes when excellent work by Michael Jameson on the right saw him turn Piecha inside-out and then beat Ian Davison to cross for James Magowan to bundle home his 32nd goal of the season from close range.

Pounder almost levelled when he cut inside from the left and unleashed a fierce shot, which Escritt beat out, but when the whistle blew on a half Consett had dominated they trailed 1-0.

Half Time: Consett 0-1 Synthonia

The Steelmen, playing with more purpose than they have for weeks, were straight on the offensive from the re-start, and Escritt again came to Synners' rescue, tipping over Ormston's header from Pounder's floated free-kick. From the resulting corner Pounder almost snapped the crossbar with a piledriver from the edge of the box, which bounced down onto the line and was cleared.

It looked like only a matter of time before Consett scored, but the visitors came close to doubling their advantage when Piecha lost possession bringing the ball out of defence, and had his goalkeeper to thank for thwarting first Magowan and then Jameson.

Scott's corner from the left then somehow evaded three Consett players, and Johnson couldn't get his header on target from Mark Gaffney's excellent right-wing cross.

A goal wasn't long in coming, however, and it was an excellent one when it did. Ormston won another flick-on from a free-kick, and it fell nicely for Cuthbertson to volley home from 20 yards, leaving the keeper clawing at thin air.

Incredibly, within two minutes Billingham had restored their lead, Magowan rising unchallenged to head in off the post from a left-wing corner.

Kenny Lindoe responded with a double substitution, with Dickman and David Johnson coming on for Davison and Piecha, and switching from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2. Within minutes it had paid dividends, with Johnson keeping Pounder's deep corner alive at the back post for Ormston to backheel home from point-blank range.

Emson then replaced Logan as Consett went for broke, and he was immediately involved in an incident in which Synners' goalkeeper should have seen red. Escritt reacted badly to the striker's aerial challenge, appearing to swing a punch at him, but the referee merely gave both players a talking-to.

Right on 90 minutes Consett grabbed the victory their performance deserved when Steven Johnson latched onto Emson's flick, took a touch to steady himself and buried the ball past the keeper to make it 3-2.

Consett played out most of the four minutes of injury time with only 10 men, as the referee refused to allow David Johnson, who suffered a deep cut over his eye in an accidental clash of heads, back onto the field until the bloodflow had been stemmed.

And the official provoked a further angry reaction from the crowd, when, right at the death, he only yellow-carded Synners' sub Tommy Marron for a scything challenge by the corner flag on Steven Johnson for which he should have been sent off.

When the whistle sounded seconds later, it signalled a victory that was nothing less than Consett deserved. Other teams might have games in hand, but Lindoe's lads have the points on the board, and the title dream remains alive.

Full Time: Consett 3-2 Synthonia

GARY WELFORD