THEY made it two wins out of two to go joint top of the Durham and Northumberland third division with Saturday's 32-27 victory at home to Medicals.

Medicals, relegated from the second division last season, showed an early dominance in the line-outs. They worked their way downfield to open the scoring with a penalty from McGill.

A number of rolling mauls took Bishops back into Medicals' half, and a quickly taken tap penalty saw Bartle send Copestake over in the corner. The Auckland forwards harassed Medicals into conceding a five metre scrum. Gallone picked up and drove over for a classic number eight try which Campbell converted.

Bishops could have scored at least two more tries, but they had only a Campbell penalty to keep them in front as Thorpe scored a try for Medicals to peg Bishops back to a 15-8 half time scoreline.

In the second half the home side soaked up some early pressure from Medicals before scoring two tries to open up a sizeable gap. Dufton's break downfield was stopped through lack of support, but from the ensuing scrum Bishops moved the ball across field through the entire back division before Blanch supplied the raw power to take the ball over in the corner. Medicals continued to press, but again from scrummage possession Atkinson broke downfield and, with Dufton and Sayer in support, sent Copestake over for his second try to take Bishop ahead 25-8.

Bishops then conceded a number of needless penalties, and Wilson drove over by the posts to give McGill a simple conversion. Bishop hit back when Bartle took a quick free kick with a clever chip over the Medicals' defence. With Dufton up in support and a friendly bounce over the line, Bartle scored a try converted by Campbell.

With Bishops leading 32-15 with fifteen minutes left, Medicals lifted their game and subjected Bishops to a period of torrid pressure. The visitors scored two tries and a conversion which brought them within five points of Bishops at 32-27. Gallone summoned his forwards who weathered the storm and Bishops held on for a well deserved win.

Bishop Auckland's second XV lost 17-0 away to a strong Acklam thirds after holding their own for much of the game. With some young players in the pack, Bishops reached half-time at 0-0.