CLINICAL finishing produced a scoreline which must have had a few jaws hitting the deck at other North Division One clubs on Saturday.

At 5-5 after 15 minutes and with Darlington struggling in the scrums the anticipated tight game was developing. Ten unanswered tries later Sheffield's steel had been reduced to a molten mess by the pace, invention and sheer opportunism of the division's newcomers.

Darlington went to the top of the table and further good news is that they are not about to lose the three talented youngsters who are just starting university life.

Prop Dan Miller is going to study in Bath, but it seems he has to make his mark with the university team before there are any guarantees of a tie-up with the city's Premiership club. Meanwhile he will travel home to play every weekend.

Scrum half Rob Stewart and lock Richard Snowball are both studying at Newcastle, and Stewart said: "I'm happy here. I have grown up here and I enjoy the way the team plays."

The England Sevens player, who spent the summer in New Zealand, will not have to face competition from David Andrew for at least three months as the former captain is to have his left arm pinned today and expects to be out until Christmas.

New captain David Glendenning was among those who were not at their best in the first half, yet three tries in 15 minutes saw Darlington sweep into a 22-5 interval lead.

When the Lee brothers, Craig and Paul, combined in a dazzling move to set up a try for Stewart two minutes afterwards Sheffield's heads went down.

A steady stream of tries followed and with most of them coming from long range and finishing under the posts, Glendenning was able to add six conversions.

Player-coach Phil Lancaster was twice penalised as he tried to get to grips with his opponent in the early scrums.

But he said: "We expect that against bigger forwards. We'll be working on our scrummaging, but the game's about much more than that these days.

"We were happy to let them tire themselves in the scrums and we proved much fitter than them. Some of the work we did round the fringes, creating space, was excellent."

Darlington took every opportunity to give new winger Ian "Frankie" Coulson the ball, sometimes with no space to work in.

He never wasted it and scored two tries, while left winger Paul Beattie scored four, two from interceptions and two from swift pick-ups when Sheffield dropped the ball.

Whether setting up attacks, linking or putting in thunderous tackles, flanker Martin Howe was always in the action and the Lees looked a class apart in midfield.

Darlington ran a penalty under the posts after two minutes and when they were awarded a scrum on the right No 8 Del Lewis picked up and put Coulson over.

After a number of attacking scrums Sheffield's No 8 cruised over to level the scores, but the game began to turn after 20 minutes.

A long throw found Howe in space at the tail of a line-out and he made 15 metres before linking with Bryan Dixon and Snowball before Lewis finished it off.

Paul Lee made a superb one-handed pick-up to send Beattie racing over then new lock Mark Power rolled over after a Lewis line-out catch.

After the break Craig Lee broke from halfway, switched direction and exchanged passes with his brother before flipping the ball behind his back for Stewart to score.

That was the killer blow for Sheffield and they had a centre sent off for swearing at the referee.

There were three further tries for Beattie, one each for Coulson and Stewart, plus a penalty try awarded when Glendenning stepped inside an attempted high tackle to touch down.

Darlington have a free day on Saturday as scheduled opponents Hull Ionians are still in the Senior Knockout Cup.

Then comes the visit of the team who have regularly beaten them over the last two seasons, Halifax.