Darlington Mowden Park

Ithe early hours of Good Friday morning, Darlington Mowden Park's Under-17s crossed the Channel to travel to Lille in preparation for two matches against local French teams. Spirits were high, as were expectations - this was the first continental tour undertaken by the Club and the long term detailed planning had at last come to fruition.

The 19 players, accompanied by coaches Phil Thomson and Andy Craggs and a sizeable number of parents and supporters, were determined to enjoy the tour and give a good account of themselves against their French opponents.

The first game was against regional champions Lille UC at the Stade Emanuel Thery in Villeneuve d'Asq. The 5pm kick off gave the Mowden boys time to psyche themselves up and, in spite of a freak injury during warm up resulting in a broken collar bone for front row Ian Pinchent, they took to the pitch in fine form. In the first half Lille didn't show - the Mowden pack was stronger and dominated all the play. Mowden opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a skilful try from Ryan Pritchard.

Keeping up the pressure, fast running down the left wing by Pritchard enabled another quick try from the sound hands of Andrew Smith; this was converted by Luke Tinkler. Going into the second half 12 - O up it seemed that Mowden had little to do to keep out in front, but a French penalty put points on the board for Lille and it appeared that the Mowden boys had succumbed to complacency. The French penalty was quickly followed by Lille gaining a converted try and with the score at 12-10 to Mowden, the final minutes of play were tense and hard. Unfortunately for Mowden, in injury time, Lille scored another penalty and the final score was 13-12 to Lille - a result that did not reflect the quality of Mowden's play.

Easter Sunday saw another day and another match. This time against Roubaix RC in the superb Stade du Carihem in the velodrome in the centre of Roubaix.

It was a real occasion for the French and they had arranged for the match to be switched from their Club's ground to this prestigious venue which hosts the end of the renowned Paris to Roubaix cycle race. Passions were running high on both sides and Mowden, due to injuries, had few subs - they knew that they had to make every move count. After ten minutes the French opened with a try. This was followed by a penalty and another try for Roubaix. Mowden were not disheartened and produced some of the best rugby they have played this season to come back with a well deserved try from Dean Ingham, converted by Tinkler. The first half ended with the French in the lead 13-7 and with Mowden knowing they had to come back hard.

The second half was tougher and even more physical than the first and produced some spectacular rugby with both teams playing their hearts out. However, two further penalties for Roubaix ensured a victory for the French with a final score of 19-7 - a score that would have been higher for Roubaix had it not been for two bruising try-saving tackles from Andrew Smith.

Mowden's coach Phil Thomson said: "I am immensely proud of the team.

"They were real ambassadors for English Club rugby and played superbly well in both matches. We appreciated the generous hospitality of our French hosts and hope that they will come to Mowden for return matches next season."

Mowden Under-16s were pleased to step into the breach when other teams in the area were unable to open their clubs or field a team as they hosted Malton and Norton on Easter Monday.

They met a team on the way back from what had obviously been a convivial tour up to the Scottish borders, and perhaps a little tired from the long coach ride. It was all the more credit to them that they withstood the battering Mowden dished out for the first 20 minutes.

Both Jason Todd and Chris Dodd were both almost over in the first couple of minutes, and several more serious chances went begging before the continual pressure forced M&N to carry the ball over their own line, and from the ensuing 5m scrum the ball was worked out the blind side for Ben Charlton, playing at outside centre, to score in the corner.

As often happens, the first score generated others, and Mowden gained a penalty from the restart. Good ball from the line-out gave Mark Zissler time to place a kick to the opposite corner which almost saw Ben Charlton over again, and set up another period of good play and recycling by Mowden until Patrick Wilson gathered an unusually poor clearance kick and passed to Mark Zissler who made 30m. Chris Dodd worked the ball from the ruck and scored 6m in. Jason Todd converted.

Again, Mowden benefited from a penalty directly from the kick off, but were unable to make much headway until scrum-half Keith Dodds, newly streamlined for low wind resistance, made a break, and full back Adam Hunt was able to break free from a very high tackle to run 50m and score under the posts. Jason Todd again converted as the half-time whistle sounded.

The second half began in the same vane, and Mowden looked set to score at will after Chris Dodd used his strength to score two tries in quick succession. However, a couple of decisions went M&N's way, and this appeared to instil new life into them. A wild tap back from a lineout on half way provoked an M&N surge right up to Mowden's line. They ran a penalty without making ground, and it looked as though Mowden would withstand the onslaught, but on the third major assault the M&N centre was able to force his way over the line.

This was converted to bring the score to Mowden 29, Malton & Norton 7.

From the restart, M&N were caught offside at the ruck. Richard Park continued his excellent work at the lineout, the ball went along the line, and was recycled for Ben Charlton to pop over a cheeky drop goal. M&N came back again, moving the ball well and bringing on another spell of fluffy tackling from Mowden, who still periodically have delusions that touch rugby will suffice. M&N were rewarded with another try, but this was not converted, and the final ten minutes or so were played between M&N's 22m line and Mowden's ten metre line with neither team being able to make further inroads. The final score, then, was Mowden Park 32, Malton and Norton 12.