Boss Gary Lowe insists Curzon Ashton can bridge a 15-point gap to pinch the UniBond North title.

Fifth-placed Curzon stepped up their promotion challenge with goals by Chris Worsley and Dean Canning earning them a hard-fought 2-1 comeback victory over visiting Prescot on a weekend when fellow high-fliers Colwyn Bay and FC Halifax both lost - the latter crashing 3-2 at Radcliffe.

Curzon's triumph came just 24 hours after they had celebrated an off-field victory by having a five-point deduction imposed by the FA reduced to three on appeal.

That leaves the Nash still 15 points behind championship favourites Lancaster, who they meet at Tameside Stadium tonight (7.45pm).

Lowe said: "I think we'll get in the play-offs but don't write off our chances of winning the league."

Meanwhile, Altrincham have been hit by the loss of four Blue Square Premier points - but through no fault of their own.

The mid-table Robins have had a win and a draw over Chester chalked off following the Deva Stadium outfit's expulsion from the Conference late last week.

Alty then missed a golden opportunity to immediately claw three back by allowing seemingly relegation-bound Grays to escape Moss Lane with a 1-1 draw. They were grateful to 14-goal top scorer Chris Senior for rescuing a point with a 74th-minute equaliser after they'd fallen behind just after the hour mark.

Elsewhere, Droylsden's faltering Blue Square North promotion push suffered a further set-back as they sank 2-1 to Farsley, but Connor Jennings' last-gasp goal gave Stalybridge a 3-2 home win over Gainsborough.

Ninth-placed Northwich, who face being thrown out of the league at the end of the season on financial grounds, won impressively for the third time in eight days with Mark Danks, Brian Dutton and sub Lee Elam on target in a 3-0 romp at leaders Fleetwood.

But lowly Hyde United's impressive six-game unbeaten run was surprisingly halted in a 1-0 defeat at rock- bottom Vauxhall Motors.

Ashton United shrugged off their off-field troubles by beating UniBond Premier visitors Nantwich 3-2.