THE wait has gone on two months longer than was initially planned, but Darlington Mowden Park will finally get the chance to test themselves against National One’s runaway league leaders when Coventry visit The Northern Echo Arena this weekend.

Mowden, who are sitting in second after winning 16 of their 21 league matches this term, were due to host Coventry in mid-December, but a frozen pitch meant the top-two battle was shelved.

The temperatures are plummeting again, but there is confidence the game will finally take place on Saturday, giving Mowden a chance to inflict a rare reverse on a visiting side that will surely be playing in the Championship next season.

Last weekend’s 34-19 defeat at Plymouth effectively ended Mowden’s hopes of pipping Coventry to the title, even if Saturday’s game was to go their way, but there is still plenty to play to play for in front of what is set to be Mowden’s biggest crowd of the campaign.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for a while,” said skipper Ollie Hodgson. “Since the original game was cancelled, we’ve continued to play well and managed to remain in second in the table. It’s still just as exciting playing them this weekend as it was going to be before.

“They’re still the team to beat because they’re top of the table. They’ve lost once now, against Blackheath, and we’ve been focused on making sure we’ve done everything we can to make sure we’re still up there in second position. Things have gone pretty well so far.

“This game is a good test to see where we are. Getting beat like we did last week might make the boys even hungrier, although we’d have been pretty hungry anyway to test ourselves against the team at the top of the league, who have only lost once all year.”

Mowden still have to play Coventry on their own ground, and while they currently boast a six-point advantage over third-placed Ampthill, they face a considerable challenge to retain a top-two position in their remaining nine matches.

At the start of the season, the target was a place in the top four, but having done so well this term, they will head into the summer planning for a full-blown promotion push next August. With that in mind, it is imperative that the squad does not break up at the end of the current campaign.

“We’ve got a very strong squad here at the minute,” said Hodgson. “It’s not a massive squad, so when the Falcons lads come in from time to time, they do help. But when they’re not here, we’ve still got a quality squad who set themselves high standards and can do an excellent job themselves.

“The squad we’ve had this year has been a lot tighter knit than in some of the previous years I’ve been here, and I think that’s helped. Off the pitch, we’re all mates and we get on. It’s not like you just turn up to training, do the job and then go.

“Everyone is always in contact with each other, going out for food and having a few beers in the bar. We’re enjoying it on and off the field. At the end of the season, hopefully we’re still second and up there at the top and we can keep the majority of the squad together and keep that buzz around the place. Then, we can move on to next year.”

* Tickets for Saturday’s game will be available on the day from the CrossBar and South West turnstiles, priced £10 for adults and £8 for concessions. Children are admitted free.