MOWDEN left it until the last controversial kick of the match to complete a dramatic fightback from 14-0 down with 15 minutes left.

Having missed the conversion which would have levelled the scores five minutes earlier, new full back Caolan Ryan slotted the winning penalty.

It was awarded when winger Peter Homan kicked ahead from halfway and was brought down, so there was no argument about the penalty.

But doubts surrounded the position from which it was taken as it should have been awarded where the kick landed and the interpretation looked generous to Mowden.

It was a cruel end for Blaydon, but the tide had turned 30 minutes earlier when the 14-0 deficit galvanised a Mowden side going through their annual struggle to bed down a host of new players.

Their attempts to play a fluent game were undermined by regularly coughing up possession in the face of stern defence from old hands like Chris Wearmouth, Keith Laughlin and Jason Smithson.

There is far more stability at Blaydon, but attempting to bring on the younger generation is always tricky and Mowden's substitutions worked better as they began to dominate the scrums.

With no-one in their pack over 6ft 2in, they were never going to dominate the line-out, although Joe Craggs did an excellent job playing out of position in the second row.

Andrew Baggett landed the first of his three penalties after four minutes. Blaydon might have gone further ahead when they drove a line-out ten metres then kicked a penalty to the corner, only for Matt Thompson to miss his target at the line-out.

Mowden committed a similar folly after 35 minutes and after a break by Blaydon's new winger Kris Bratton home scrum half Tim Duchesne was sin-binned and Baggett landed the simple penalty.

With his first decent touch, Mowden's former Falcons centre James Fitzpatrick made a strong break just before half-time, only for possession to be lost yet again.

His passing suggested he has yet to master an art he could ignore when he used to run through opponents.

After the lacklustre first half, it didn't look good for Mowden when they were penalised for crossing on the restart and Baggett made it 9-0.

Eight minutes later a catch-and-drive was stopped just short, but when the ball came out centre Tom Bramwell took it on the burst to crash over.

Crucially, as it turned out, Baggett missed the conversion and Mowden's fightback began with a chip and chase out of defence by Ryan.

Ten minutes of pressure earned a series of penalties, which they either ran or opted for scrums. Thompson was sin-binned and after 65 minutes Mowden had their reward when the ball was spun out following a penalty to touch and when it was quickly recycled Ryan nipped under the posts and converted.

Suddenly Mowden had a chance. Craggs made a break, another penalty was kicked to the corner, but a poor pass saw the ball lost in midfield.

Still they kept coming and with five minutes left a peanlty was run from just outside the 22 and Ryan's chip and chase took him almost to the line.

Fitzpatrick was on hand to force his way over, and although Ryan's conversion drifted left he made no mistake with the winning penalty from just outside the 22, 15 metres in from the right touchline.