DARLINGTON MOWDEN PARK maintained their 100 per cent start to 2015 as they edged out mid-table rivals Esher in a game that exploded into life in the second half at The Northern Echo Arena.

Mowden ran out 30-22 winners in a game that saw all six tries come in the final 40 minutes, as well as five yellow cards and a brawl that reflected fraying tempers on both sides.

There was no sign of the drama that was to come in a somewhat low-key first half that saw Mowden claim a 9-3 interval lead courtesy of three penalties from fly-half Grant Connon.

However, things cranked up straight after the interval with home flanker Joe Maud sin-binned for an infringement close to his own try line and Esher exploiting their man advantage as skipper Ian Kench crossed to score.

Mowden responded almost immediately though as Cameron Mitchell intercepted an errant pass on the halfway line and ran in unopposed.

Connon’s conversion made it 16-10, and Mowden extended their lead when a slick passing move ended in Henry Robinson playing in Callum McKenzie, who scythed through the Esher defence to score.

A melee shortly after the hour mark resulted in lock Ben Gledhill being sin-binned, but two Esher yellow cards left Mowden facing 13 men and the hosts quickly claimed a third try as Australian debutant Andrew Cox crashed over from close range.

Connon’s extras made it 30-10, and while Matt Thompson’s trip to the sin bin coincided with Esher adding two late tries, the hosts held out for another notable victory which leaves them in seventh position, comfortably in the top half of the table.

“When we sat down as a squad over Christmas, we talked about our goals and set ourselves the target of winning all four of our January games,” said first-team coach Danny Brown. “We’ve done that now and we’re happy with the way things have been going.

“Esher were very strong opponents, and it probably took a little bit of time for us to work out how best to break them down. We started to do that a bit towards the end of the first half, and all credit to the lads, they really pulled it out in the second half.

“We’re going into a tough period now with away games coming up against Hartpury College and Fylde, who are two of the more in-form teams in the league. We’ll go into them with nothing to lose though, and the boys have shown they can live with anyone in this league.”

In Durham and Northumberland One, Darlington’s poor recent run continued as they suffered a 52-7 defeat at the hands of Ryton, while in Durham and North Two, Acklam kept their promotion push on track with a 24-7 win at Bishop Auckland.

Northallerton's cup fixture was cancelled due to the opposition unable to field a team. The repercussions of this are unclear, as North firstly thought they would be awarded a walkover and progress into the quarter finals, but there is now an outside chance the game may be rescheduled for tomorrow.

Meanwhile Northallerton resisted the temptation to field any of the first team in the home fixture verses a Redcar mixed team. Instead North gave opportunities to the regular second and third team players who, proceeded to perform more than adequately in a 24-24 draw.

North struggled to contain the visitors more expansive rugby in the first half, especially when Redcar ran the ball through their speedy backs. North conceded three tries in the first half but did reply with the try of the game through Gareth Essex.

Brian Tucker's quick thinking and precise cross-field kick was collected with one hand by Essex before dodging two tacklers and carrying two others over the try line with him.

North vastly upped their game in the second half and led by captain Paul Dennison, began a well deserved comeback. North conceded one more try but scored three tries of their own through Chris Hustler, Robbie Wallace and Dennison himself.

Tucker just about nudged'over his second conversion of the day to earn the draw. In the dying minutes North twice had the opportunity to snatch the game but the ball was dropped twice as the afternoon's efforts took its toll.