Steelmen hit the top but Poppies and Diamonds are both beaten

Lee Attenborough's Corby Town are top of the Northern Premier League Midlands. Picture by Jim Darrah

In the only game of the day in the division, due to both teams suffering early exits from the Emirates FA Cup, the Steelmen included new signing Hilton Arthur in their starting line-up.

Lee Attenborough’s team took the lead in the first half when a fine pass from Curtis Hartley was converted by Sacha Markelic.

That advantage was doubled in the second half when a Curtis Burrows corner was flicked on by Curtis Hartley and captain Michael Jacklin tapped it home at the far post.

Yaxley pulled a goal back late on through Jake Battersby but the Steelmen saw things out to move to the top of the table.

Kettering Town suffered a second defeat of the season in the Vanarama National League North as they went down 1-0 at Curzon Ashton.

The decisive moment of the game came after 37 minutes when Josh Hanock converted a pass from Tom Peers for the hosts.

The Poppies did have their chances with Rhys Sharpe being denied by a fine save in the first half while they struck the woodwork in the second half when Harry Reilly’s shot came back off the post.

AFC Rushden & Diamonds slipped to a third successive defeat as they were beaten 2-0 at Alvechurch in the Southern League Premier Central.

After a goalless first half, the hosts broke the deadlock through Jack Concannon.

And Alvechurch put the game out of reach with four minutes to go through Leo Brown to leave Andy Burgess still seeking their first win of the campaign.