Darlington Under-12s were on tour over the weekend and they visited Chester to play a match that preceeded the North Division One meeting of Chester 1sts v Darlington 1sts.

The Under-12s however came away with a win following a good performance all-round. The junior side winning four tries to two.

The Under-13s travelled to Horden this weekend. Darlington took a large squad with them and found an opposition fired up for the encounter following Darlington's win over them at Blackwell Meadows early in the year. The home side's enthusiasm saw them through winning 31-22.

On a heavy and sloping pitch Darlington gave themselves an uphill battle and quickly conceded a try and three more followed before half-time. Horden's tackling was far superior to Darlington's and the home side's confidence grew with every try. There was little to note from Darlington's efforts and the whistle was a long time coming through a period where Horden had a distinct advantage.

The second half saw major changes with nine substitutions for Darlington. The changes certainly made a difference and it was only a matter of minutes before Paul Smith took a quick tap and go to let John Dawson squeeze in at the corner. Only moments after this try Dexter Bogle outpaced his opposition to run in at the opposite corner. A series of penalties however, had Horden moving up the field towards the Darlington line. With Horden only a few metres out Darlington looked to have the opportunity to clear their lines with a scrum. Winning the ball from the scrum however half back Rory Clegg kicked the ball 40 meters down field only for the referee to penalise the Darlington backs for being in front of the kicker. At the scrum back the referee broke up the scrum to have words with Darlington's tight head for twisting. Horden took advantage and piled across the line on top of a mass of Darlington defenders the eagle-eyed referee had however seen the ball fairly grounded behind the line to take the score to 31-10.

Darlington responded from the restart making ground down the slope before Richard Leigh ran on to a Paul Smith pass, fighting his way to the line. Even though Darlington were still 16 points behind there looked to be a chance for more tries. Dexter Bogle ran in his second try of the day almost unopposed but it proved to be the final score of the game.

Despite Darlington being camped in the Horden 22 for the remainder of the match the clock ticked away without further score. Horden were deserved winners and their high spirits at the final whistle indicated how pleased they were to have beaten this Darlington side by five tries to four. Final score was Horden 31, Darlington 22.

Mowden Park

The Mowden Park Under-14s, who have just been presented with a new team strip by Lingfield Point, did their new sponsor's proud when they were invited to Blaydon to play before the first 15s clash on Saturday afternoon. They went expecting tough opposition and despite an early break in the second minute of the game by Luke Cherrington that put Mowden one try up, converted by Adam Gardner, the game was certainly hard-fought.

Mowden kept the pressure on throughout the first half and were rewarded with a second try by team captain Luke Edwards in the 20th minute when the ball was passed out from a scrum and then chipped across the touch line to put Mowden 12 points in front.

Blaydon fought back in the second half to steal a try down the wing around ten minutes in, but Mowden, realising their weakness, swiftly changed some players positions to close the gaps in their defence. Mathew Gee playing full back made some good last line defence tackles to bring the game to a close. Final score was Blaydon 7, Mowden Park 12.

Darlington Mowden Park

A fortunate series of cancellations and misunderstandings saw three Under-16 squads - Mowden Park, Bradford and Bingley, and Darlington - present and ready to play at Blackwell Meadows last Sunday, the amicable decision being that each should play the other.

Yorkshire visitors Bradford and Bingley chose to play the first two matches as they had furthest to travel, and began their campaign with Mowden. They found Mowden committed, in form, and too strong. Good, simple rugby set up Adam Hunt to run in the first two tries, both converted by Mark Zissler, who had an excellent day with the boot. B&B then worked a ball out to the wing, who scored in the corner, unconverted, before Mowden turned up the pressure again. Two penalties in the B&B 22 led to two further scores. The first set up a ruck 5m from the line, and a long pass gave Sean Williams, happier inside than out on the wing, the opportunity to score a fine converted try under the posts. The second produced a 5m line-out in the corner, which Richard Parks caught and set, allowing Chris Dodd to sneak around the blind side. In the final minutes, a flowing Mowden attack worked the ball along to line to Andrew Woodend who scored some 6m in from the touch line. Mark Zissler rounded off a convincing match with the conversion, and the final whistle saw Mowden win with four goals and a try to a try from Bradford and Bingley.

B&B next took on Darlington in a slightly uneasy match which saw first a Darlington player sin-binned for throwing a punch and, later, a B&B player suffer a similar fate for reacting violently. Darlington notched up a victory with two tries without reply.

The real business of the afternoon, however, was always going to be the derby match - always a bugbear for Mowden Park, and always won by Darlington over the past six years. This year, Mowden won by a goal to a try. The pitch was greasy and heavy, and the ball slippery. Mowden rebuffed Darlington's initial ten minutes of out-and-out attack, before a good clearance kick set up scrum half Keith Dodd who made an excellent individual run, well supported by Patrick Wilson, to open the scoring. Mark Zissler's conversion was to prove crucial when, ten minutes later, the Darlington scrum half, who had an outstanding match, stole over round the side of a ruck for Darlington's only try, which was to go unconverted. The second half saw wave after wave of Darlington attacks, but none could break through the dogged Mowden defence. Darlo supporters commented on a number of mistakes by their own three-quarters, but this was as much a factor of Mowden pressure as of needless errors. Despite having over 70 per cent of the possession over the match, Darlington were unable to score again, and Mowden Park notched up a well-deserved victory.

The two teams will potentially meet three more times this season - in the return home fixture, in the final of the Falcons competition, and in the County Cup.