Darlington now look very capable of gaining a sixth promotion in seven years, despite losing four of their first eight games in North Division One.

It has taken some of their youngsters a while to adapt, but prop Dan Miller, lock Richard Snowball and scrum half Rob Stewart all looked thoroughly at home in a surprisingly comfortable win.

"We have made good progress," said player-coach Craig Lee. "There are some big teams in this division and we can't just go out and throw it around as we might have done against weaker sides in the past."

While this might result in a less exciting spectacle, there could be no doubting the clinical efficiency with which they avenged a narrow defeat at Chester.

West Park's 18-11 defeat at Hull Ionians underlined that the Humbersiders will remain Darlington's chief rivals for the promotion play-off spot and their visit to Blackwell Meadows on March 2 will be crucial.

Miller had an excellent game and it is clearly a big bonus to the club that he is prepared to travel back from Bath University every weekend.

He was enticed there by interest from the Bath club, but it could be that they now see short, squat props as a dying breed, although on this evidence they need have little worry about Miller's athleticism.

His support work earned him one try and he should have had another, but the referee penalised him for a double movement when he didn't look to have been held.

After their four-week lay-off, Darlington took an early 10-0 lead, but the rest of the first half was an even contest and when Chester touched down from a line-out drive on the stroke of half-time they trailed only 17-8.

When Lee jinked inside one tackle and held off another to score near the posts ten minutes after the interval it became a question of how many Darlington would win by.

There are one or two old stagers they might need to replace next season, but Bryan Dixon remains a tower of strength at blind side and Mark Butler, who is threatening to retire, made an instant impact when he went on at centre for the last 15 minutes.

It will be reassuring that David Andrew will be playing again soon after his broken arm as Stewart is not quite fully fit.

At full pace he might have scored after two mintues when a high-class break almost took him clear, but at least Darlington were able to capitalise with a simple penalty by David Glendenning.

Stewart was just short again after a switch in the centre sent Simon White down the middle, but when a scrum was awarded they kept the pressure on with a big shove and after No 8 Del Lewis drove for the line Snowball got the touchdown.

Glendenning added the first of his four conversions and his line kicking was also good, often relieving pressure as Chester came back into it.

They kicked a penalty after 20 minutes for handling on the ground, but five minutes before the interval Stewart broke away up the touchline following a line-out and when the ball was moved left Glendenning came into the line and sent flanker Martin Howe over.

Chester's try left the game in the balance, but not for long as Lee's class took him over by the posts.

Midway through the half Lewis broke off a maul and linked with Paul Lee and winger Marc Potts, who was stopped in the corner. But Miller quickly arrived to gather up the ball on the move and touch down fractionally before he hit the corner flag.

Chester kept trying to attack without ever really threatening a tight defence and just before the final whistle Butler intercepted and strolled over from 30 metres.

If he does retire at the end of the season, as a good servant he will be expected to offer some input to a club which continues to thrive on all levels.