AFTER last Saturday's 51-11 hammering of Blaydon, their sixth successive win, Darlington Mowden Park can set their sights on climbing into the top four of National One.

At the halfway stage they lie eighth, 18 points behind leaders Richmond, to whom they lost by one point just prior to their winning run.

The run of away games at the start, coupled with the time taken for new players to bed in, saw them lose five of the first seven. But there is no doubt they are currently the form team in the division.

Their next match on January 2 is away to Henley, then they have four successive home games in which to build on Saturday's crowd of 1,175. The regulars have seen a steady improvement, culminating in this cracking performance.

Blaydon had the edge in the scrums and won all their line-out ball, otherwise they were outclassed by much slicker opponents, who won a lot of turnovers in the loose.

Mowden scored eight tries, six of them in the second half, with winger Jake Henry bagging a hat-trick. Garry Law could afford a relative off-day with the boot, landing four of the conversions to add to a second-minute penalty. He is now the division's leading scorer with 143 points.

Blaydon's experienced forwards probably thought they could draw Mowden into an attritional battle, but they were made to look pedestrian, especially by the athleticism of locks Tom Jubb and Rob Conquest.

Jubb burst through the middle of the first ruck and galloped 20 metres, then Conquest also made ground before Law's penalty opened the scoring.

Mowden's greater physicality since last season was evident as they stood their ground in dust-ups towards the end of each half.

After the first, the referee sent both captains to the bin, which might have been a problem for Mowden as props Ignas Darkintis, Ralph Appleby and Darren Fearn are all injured.

But there were only two scrums during the time Gareth Nesbit had to be replaced by Talite Vaioleti and Mowden extended their lead during that time.

At 17-6 at half-time, the visitors might have felt they could get back into it, but when they tried to clear the start to touch Jubb charged it down and sent the unmarked Henry over.

Mowden's first-half tries resulted from first Henry then flanker Ali Bone cutting inside from the left wing and racing to the posts.

Two Andrew Baggett penalties kept Blaydon afloat, but their only try came when they trailed 39-6, Jason Smithson crashing over from a line-out.

Mowden sent supersub Simon Uzokwe on for the last 25 minutes, but his try-scoring wasn't needed, although he did put in a powerful burst to set up fellow replacement Ben Frankland.

The pick of the tries came from Australian full back Jake Woodhouse, whose sheer pace took him outside his marker on a blistering run from his own half.

Lively scrum half Bruno Bravo nipped over for a try, Jubb side-stepped two tacklers on his way to the line and Henry finally zig-zagged over for his hat-trick. It was truly a performance with all the trimmings.

It's a much sadder story at Blackwell Meadows, where the EGM agreement to rubber-stamp the groundshare with Darlington FC did nothing to inspire the rugby players.

They will be glad of a two-week break after recording a 13th straight defeat in a 70-7 hammering at Ryton.

Barnard Castle remain on course to leapfrog Darlington, going clear at the top of Durham and Northumberland Two with a hard-earned 17-15 win at Sunderland.

Middlesbrough won 34-7 at Medicals, winger Rhys Kilbride setting them on the way with the try of the match after ten minutes when he beat two defenders on the outside.

He barged his way over for a second before lock Euan Tremlett was bundled over for the first of his brace as Boro built a 22-7 interval lead.

The first 20 minutes of the second half were a stalemate until Tremlett and prop Isa Warsama were driven over in quick succession. Matthew Todd landed three conversions and a penalty.

In the Teesside derby, Acklam completed the double over Stockton on their first visit to Grangefield, winning 36-25 as their slicker backs scored five tries.

Northallerton won their Yorkshire Three match 24-20 at home to Harrogate Pythons after opting to keep the ball tight against a team with plenty of pace.

Jeremy Deas crossed for the opening try after a few phases of picking and driving and Iain Macleod kicked the conversion.

Ten minutes later, prop Joe Oselton continued his scoring streak, but slack defending allowed Harrogate to score a try before half-time.

Early in the second half, scrum half Doug Mulholland treated the crowd to an outrageous dummy before stepping past another floundering defender and sprinting home from 20 metres.

Macleod converted, but North were down to 13 men when Oselton was sin-binned, quickly followed by Mulholland for not retreating ten metres from a penalty.

Harrogate took advantage with two tries to set up a tight finish, but Deas added his ballast to a maul and somehow got his hands on the ball as he forced his way over for his second try.

In the final minute, Mulholland gave the visitors an early Christmas present by dropping the ball in his own dead ball area and gifting them a try.

On January 2, the club will host the Colburn Blackcats American football team. The North players will provide the opposition and afterwards there is a Wild West evening in the clubhouse with an American-style buffet and bucking bronco. The game will kick-off at 6pm. Tickets at £5 can be bought by contacting the club or pay at the door.