Darlington held sway in their conflict with Durham as the three players selected for both teams on Saturday turned out for the club in a 30-22 home defeat by Bradford and Bingley.

Durham lost their opening match in the County Championship Shield 34-26 in an excellent game against Cheshire at Gateshead, although they were not handicapped by the three late changes.

Stockton product Scott Powell, now with Harrogate, came in at No 8 for Michael Taylor and had a tremendous game, while Durham University winger Dale Taylor scored two tries after coming in for Frankie Coulson.

His second try put Durham 26-20 ahead, but Cheshire scored two converted tries in the last five minutes.

The dispute over last season's county cup, when the trophy was withheld from Darlington, led to a rift between the club and county.

But Durham claim that Taylor, Coulson and Stuart Palmer all wanted to play for them and will be considered for the remaining two games, starting with Warwickshire at Coventry on Saturday.

County president Jim Ainslie said: "We didn't want to put the three players on the spot, but we thought we had clarified the situation.

"If Taylor and Palmer had played we would have had seven in the team who had come through from the Under 20s and it's good to have that progression.

"Cheshire had more possession but our defence was outstanding and although we were disappointed to lose there were a lot of positives. We feel we can win our two away games, and two wins might be enough."

Durham went 6-0 down to a penalty by Cheshire fly half Ben Mason and a drop goal by full back Ross Winney before Mowden Park scrum half Andy Foreman broke away to score from halfway.

A converted try after 30 minutes put Cheshire 13-5 ahead but Durham hit back immediately when Durham University winger Oliver Brennand fielded a kick and set up Tim Visser. The Mowden Park centre, who had an impressive game, sent Taylor over.

Penalties either side of half-time by fly half Iain Dixon put Durham 16-13 ahead and he kicked a third after a converted try by Cheshire.

When Dixon converted Taylor's second try victory looked likely, but Cheshire kept attacking and both the late tries came from their backs.

Former Mowden Park player Mark Bedworth, now with Wharfedale, scored 15 points from two tries, a penalty and a conversion in Yorkshire's 20-16 win against Northumberland at Tynedale in the County Championship proper.

But the decisive try was scored by left winger Danny Smith, of Hull, who seized a loose ball to race over from deep in his own half when the score was 13-13 midway through the second half.

Northumberland led 10-0 through a try by full back Will Massey plus a conversion and penalty by Phil Belgian.

They were 10-5 ahead at half-time, but a Belgian penalty and drop goal were not enough in the second half.

Darlington rested several senior players for their final game of the season and were pleased with the performance against the National Three North champions, who were presented with the trophy afterwards.

Two players making their league debuts were Barnard Castle School product Gareth Davies, who had a good game at fly half, and winger Phil Niubalauu.

Prop Dan Miller, making his comeback after his knee injury, went on after 57 minutes, along with Alan Brown, who cemented his place as the division's leading try scorer when he scored his 24th of the season.

After a keenly-contested opening 20 minutes full back Lee Davis chased a kick to beat two defenders and score in the corner for Darlington.

Bradford's first try brought them level then their outstanding scrum half scored after 47, 52 and 56 minutes to build a 22-5 lead.

Brown's close-range try brought Darlington back into it then Davis came into the line to finish a good backs move.

Victory looked possible when lock Phil Harston scored from a driving maul after 75 minutes, but Bradford made sure with a try two minutes later.