WINGATE & Finchley will hope to stave off the chasing pack and retain their place at the top of the Ryman One North table when they entertain Maldon & Tiptree on Saturday.

Wingate have been one of the few teams so far unaffected by the freezing conditions that have claimed a number of fixtures in the division.

The team hold a slender one point lead over East Thurrock United, following a tremendous run of results that has included six wins from their previous nine league games.

Wingate were unable to earn their seventh victory at AFC Sudbury last weekend, where they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw after encountering one of Ryman One North's in-form sides.

The first half was dominated by the north Londoners but a failure to convert that territorial advantage in to more than just one goal proved decisive.

Dave Laird fired the first warning shot on five minutes, his rasping drive cannoning off the underside of the bar.

The visitors did manage to break the deadlock after 17 minutes, and it owed much to the industry of Josh Cooper down the right wing. His strong run ended with a menacing cross that the keeper could only parry into the path of Gary Burrell, and he made no mistake from close range.

Leading scorer Leon Smith and Laird each spurned chances to increase the lead, and it was perhaps those missed opportunities that gave Sudbury the impetus to find the equaliser.

They did just that with two minutes of the half remaining, Dave Wareham capitalising on some generous defending and slotting the ball past Gavin King.

The pendulum swung dramatically in the second half, as it was the hosts who looked the more threatening.

King was in imperious form to deny two seemingly certain goals, although a counter-attack sprung by Cooper could have resulted in an unlikely Wingate winger, but his centre was just behind Chris Chase.

Wingate were also in action in the third round of the Championship Manager Cup in midweek, when they battled through on penalties against Wealdstone after a pulsating contest.

King was in flying form once again to prevent the home side scoring, although Wingate were also guilty of not taking several chances.

They did eventually take the lead with 12 minutes to play, Ahmet Rifat scrambling the ball home after a melee in the box following a corner.

But the game was dragged into extra-time thanks to a pearler of a strike from Kieron Forbes, who curled an unstoppable shot into the corner from 20 yards.

Mark Carter then appeared to have secured Wealdstone's passage to the fourth round when he netted in the first period of extra-time, but back came Wingate through Smith just after the turnaround.

The local side then showed nerves of steel to convert each of their five penalties, while King was the hero with a vital save from Wealdstone's second attempt.

Elsewhere, Potters Bar Town were forced to settle for a goalless draw at home to Brentwood Town on Saturday.

It was the Scholars' second consecutive scoreless draw, despite the team having registered a bizarre 6-5 victory over Great Wakering Rovers the week prior.

Jose Espinosa, Tom Pett and Elvis Balic all came close for Town against Brentwood, but neither team could find the all-important breakthrough.

Potters Bar, who sit in fifth in Ryman One North, travel to Romford on Saturday looking to cement their place in the play-off positions, with their opponents just one point and one place behind them in the league standings.

Meanwhile, Ryman Premier outfit Hendon will be hoping the weather does not interfere with their home clash against top dogs Sutton United on Saturday.

The Greens' trip to Aveley was postponed due to a frozen pitch last week.