THE gap of two divisions proved too much to bridge for Blaydon when they lost 38-0 at Orrell in the third round of the Powergen Cup.

But they felt the scoreline was very unflattering as they dominated the first ten minutes and matched the Division One club up front but were simply outpaced.

Orrell's revival appears to have gone into reverse with the loss of funding from Dave Whelan, boss of JJB Sports, but the pace of their backs won the game as they scored 24 points between the 15th and 30th minutes.

After that Blaydon's heroic efforts ensured there was no further score until Orrell managed two tries at the death, when hooker Paul Ritson was sin-binned.

Because of injuries Ritson was playing his first game for 18 months and Blaydon also had to bring in their fourth scrum half of the season in Ben Mason.

They also had to send on Andy Khan for his first game for a year following a bad rib injury when Dan Clappison was kneed in the back and forced to retire after 20 minutes.

Nick Wainwright switched to fly half with Khan at centre but within two minutes he had to go off for four stitches in his chin during the period when Orrell were scoring their points.

Khan returned to join fellow centre Luke Wattam in a tremendous defensive display in a bruising encounter in which flanker Dave Marwick had to retire just before the end after being kneed in the head.

Middlesbrough eased through to the third round of the Powergen Intermediate Cup with a 32-3 win at home to Sandal.

In heavy rain they dominated up front and scored three first half tries through forwards Richard Horton, Chris Horton and Gavin Fingland.

Dave Richardson landed a penalty and two conversions to make it 22-3 at half-time.

Scrum half Peter Wright added a fourth try, with a further conversion and penalty by Richardson.

Horden's proud home record in the competition was not enough to sustain them against North One leaders Hull Ionians, who won 53-3. The experience of former West Hartlepool star Mick Watson, who played at lock, and ex-Bristol flanker Derek Eves stood out for the visitors.

Horden were hit by the late withdrawals of centre Andrew White and prop Gavin Davidson, who failed fitness tests, while full back Vaughan Tucker had to work.

But they held on gallantly after being 29-3 down at half-time until they conceded three late tries. Luke Watson kicked Horden's penalty.

Durham City eased through to the third round with an 11-0 win at Ryton, courtesy of a try from a forward drive and two penalties.

In a forward-dominated game, City were 8-0 up after 14 minutes and although they spent most of the second half in home territory they had to wait until late in the game for further reward.

Hartlepool Rovers lost 18-13 at home to Driffield after fighting back from an early 10-0 deficit as the visitors dominated the first half.

A big drive by the pack produced a try for Simon Rutherford, converted by Michael Walton to make it 10-7 but Driffield scored their second try just before half-time.

Walton kicked two second half penalties either side of one by Driffield, who hung on desperately towards the end.

York also had to hang on for a 12-8 home win against Consett after scoring first half tries through Sam Arkle and skipper Andy Kay, with a conversion by Nick Ventress.

Consett's Bernie de Beer succeeded with his third penalty attempt and with 11 minutes left the gap was down to four when prop Peter Hunter finished off a forward drive.

Northallerton reached the third round of the Junior Vase with a 13-5 win at home to Bradford Salem, who are a division above them in Yorkshire Two.

Skipper Steve Robinson was outstanding and his back row colleague Ben Allerton scored the try which earned a 10-0 interval lead when he stood on the shoulder of fly half Brian Tucker and took a short pass to crash through three tackles.

Tucker added the conversion to his earlier penalty and he kicked another good penalty after Salem scored midway through the second half.