WHILE Darlington Mowden Park will hope to get fly half Jon Benson fit for Saturday's promotion play-off at Cinderford, it would be tough on replacement Charlie Rayner if he again has to start on the bench.

The young utility back had to make way for winger Gareth Kerr to return after injury at Morley, but he replaced Benson at half-time and crowned a good display with two excellent penalties into the wind to clinch a 27-25 win.

The two kicks came either side of the 80-minute mark and followed hard on the heels of a 77th minute try by flanker Aaron Myers as a 13-point burst settled the game.

Mowden had trailed 18-14, but at 27-18 ahead they were safe and when Morley scored their third try the conversion proved to be the last kick of the match.

With a place in National Two at stake, Mowden will want Benson's experience at Cinderford and will be hoping he recovers from a blow on the head.

Prop Dan Miller also retired with a calf injury after 65 minutes, while his front row colleagues Ross Batty and Danny Brown were sin-binned during a second half period when Mowden were under pressure and kept infringing.

Batty was otherwise outstanding, while Kerr did well on his return and Peter Browne did enough when introduced at No 8 at half-time to warrant further involvement this week against his former club.

Mowden will want to return to their more aggressive defence in Gloucestershire as they spent too much time on the back foot at Morley, for whom defeat brought relegation.

With the wind behind them in the first half, Mowden failed to use it as planned and led only 14-10. They trailed 3-0 until Kerr cut inside to finish a wellworked try, then scrum half Andy Foreman nipped over on the blind side.

Benson converted both, but Morley came back with a converted try just before halftime and a penalty reduced the gap to one point after 54 minutes.

That was when Batty received the first yellow card and things looked ominous when Brown's departure ten minutes later was swiftly followed by the try which put Morley 18-14 ahead.

But once Mowden were back to full strength they dug deep and the forwards advanced through pick-and-drive for Myers to score.

Rayner converted and two minutes later landed his first superbly-struck penalty, which he followed with another in injury time to make the game safe.

Blaydon's decline since clinching safety in National Two continued when they lost 24-11 at home to Southend.

Having lost their recruits from Newcastle, Blaydon were further depleted by the late withdrawal of leading try scorer Andrew Fenby and were under pressure from the start.

Three missed tackles allowed Southend to score their first try and the second came from one of many penalties kicked to the corner.

Just before half-time No 8 Jason Smithson took a quick tap penalty and slotted a huge drop goal, and when fly half Richard Windle added a penalty after the interval Blaydon were back in it.

But after working hard to get into a good position they lost possession and Southend scored their third try, the conversion making it 9-6.

The visitors hacked on to score again after a Blaydon pass went astray and the only home try came two minutes from time when Smithson was driven over from a line-out.

Former England captain Bill Beaumont, whose son Sam was in the visiting pack, presented the National Three North trophy to Tynedale captain Phil Belgian after a 22-7 win.

One of the biggest crowds of the season watched the Corbridge club's 25th successive home win, although they were given a tough fight after racing into a 10-0 lead.

Despite facing the wind, Fylde dominated for 30 minutes but were unable to score and conceded another try just before half-time.

A try by former Durham County winger Oliver Brennand cut the gap to 15-7, but Tynedale's third try ended Fylde's hopes of pipping Mowden Park for second place.

Penrith's brave bid for North One survival was foiled, despite a late penalty giving them a 23- 20 win at Middlesbrough.

Boro started well and led 12-0 after 15 minutes, with good work by the forwards producing a try in the corner for left winger Paul Norris.

Then centre Rob Bellerby intercepted to go under the posts, but Penrith replied with a try after 23 minutes then scored from an interception of their own to level the scores.

A drop goal just before halftime put the visitors ahead and they added a well-taken try before Boro got back into it through a Simon Moore penalty.

It became 20-20 after 68 minutes when Boro kicked a penalty to the corner and drove on before scrum half Peter Wright nipped over.

Penrith's late penalty brought very shortlived joy as Darlington's win meant the Cumbrians were unable to overhaul them.

Hartlepool Rovers were relegated from North Two East when they lost 22-17 away to champions West Hartlepool.

The hosts dominated up front, and although Rovers led 10-5 at one stage they were well beaten by the time they scored a converted try at the death.

Winger Rob Thorn, possibly playing his last game for West, scored two first half tries, the first after a blind side break by Dave Tighe and the second after a big forward drive.

Another big drive was finished off by lock Tom Dixon, Paul Moss converting, and winger Andrew Cheslin squeezed in at the left corner for West's fourth try Chris Sainty scored 12 of Rovers' points with a try, a penalty and two conversions, while the late try was a fine individual effort by full back Mark Shires.

Jubilant Billingham will be in North Two East for the first time next season, but they were made to fight all the way before clinching the Durham and Northumberland division one title with a 10-9 home win against Stockton.

Stockton led until ten minutes from time, when Billingham finally worked the ball out for winger Paul Shepherd to score in the corner, to the relief of most in the 300 crowd.

Billingham ran three kickable early penalties to no avail as Stockton defended stoutly, and visiting fly half Jeremy Good kicked two penalties for a 6-0 interval lead.

Two minutes after the break Good was sin-binned for killing the ball near the line and from the penalty Billingham rumbled over for Steve Hutchinson to get the touchdown.

Good returned to kick his third penalty after 58 minutes, but Stockton were hanging on from that point and Billingham finally had their reward.

10:22am Monday 21st April 2008

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