Tynedale 19 Mowden Park 8

INJURIES took their toll as two teams fielding several Newcastle Development players struggled for fluidity as Tynedale won 19-8 at home to Darlington Mowden Park.

Tynedale are now clear at the top of National Three North with four wins from four games, but Mowden had cause for optimism after three defeats.

Despite losing hooker Shaun Buckley for at least two weeks in the first minute, they didn't fare quite as badly as their hosts in the casualty stakes.

Scrum half Ross Samson went off after 17 minutes to be replaced by the highly-rated Mikey Young, the Falcons Academy No 9 from West Hartlepool.

With Falcons' boss John Fletcher looking on, Young also departed in the second half, forcing Tynedale to complete the match with No 8 Andrew Murray at scrum half.

They were already without skipper Phil Belgian with a broken hand, plus Jamie Murray with a knee problem, so they might need more assistance from Fletcher to stay out in front.

He would be pleased with the performances of full back Alex Tait and flanker Phil Dawson for Mowden, with the former in particular making an outstanding debut. It included a huge hit on another ex-Academy man, Mark Laycock.

But No 8 Ed Williamson and fly half Jon Benson again failed to live up to their reputations for Mowden with the former being replaced after 62 minutes by Aaron Myers.

Benson, who needed treatment towards the end of the game, might find himself under pressure from Charlie Raynor, last season's Darlington fly half who is to be registered by Mowden this week.

Both sides tried to play open rugby, but a physical game became one of fits and starts, not helped by the referee, and there was only one try for each side.

Danny Brown replaced Buckley, who has a calf strain, and the Mowden front row did well, while Paul Vinnicombe made his presence felt at lock.

England Under 19s fly half Rob Miller kicked three first half penalties for Tynedale, all for holding or not rolling away from the tackle.

The last of those saw Tait sent to the sin-bin just before half-time, but Mowden felt they could get on top with the wind behind them.

They conceded another penalty after 46 minutes, but as soon as Tait returned they began to take control and Benson kicked a penalty.

They were knocked back, however, by flanker Rob Farenheim being sin-binned in the 58th minute for killing the ball.

While he was off Laycock and Jake White combined to second Jack Harrison under the posts.

When Farenheim returned Mowden stole a line-out ball and scrum half Andy Foreman shrugged off two tackles to score on the blind side.

They finished the match on top but had no further reward.

Mowden are third from the bottom and need a win this week at home to Fylde, who are just above them.

Blaydon lost 48-8 away to National Two promotion favourites Otley, for whom former Darlington skipper Richard Snowball cleaned up at the line-out.

He often stole the ball on Blaydon's throw-in and things didn't improve when they took off Mark Darlington and switched James Isaacson from prop to hooker.

Otley were more physical, but after conceding an early try and penalty Blaydon did well until just before half-time, creating more chances despite having little possession.

Dan Kyle, who was injured in the second half, kicked one penalty but missed two and when they ran one full back Ralph Smith broke down the right, only for what might have been a scoring pass to be deliberately knocked on.

No yellow card was issued and two more penalties just before half-time stretched Otley's lead to 16-3.

They were awarded a penalty try after the break when a maul was pulled down and they scored four more as Blaydon were denied the ball.

When they did win it they recycled it several times for winger Cameron Johnston to score.

West Hartlepool made it three wins from three in North Two East when they beat Driffield 24-10, but Hartlepool Rovers suffered their first defeat. They led 6-0 through two Kevin Sainty penalties but lost 20-9.

Stockton lost 24-15 after making a poor start in their Durham and Northumberland division one game at Northern.

After falling behind to a converted try Stockton got well on top but were denied when they drove over the line only for the referee to be on the wrong side of the maul.

A Jeremy Good penalty was followed by a try after 36 minutes when good passing from a line-out allowed Tom Jeffery to come into the line from full back and race over from halfway.

Just before half-time Northern scored another converted try from a penalty five metres out and two more tries made it 24-8 before replacement lock Keith Etherington scored for Stockton.

He went on for Konrad Tempest, who again did well, as did debutant winger Jamie Hauxwell and Danny Muirhead after switching back from prop to his preferred position of hooker.

Redcar broke their duck in Yorkshire One with a 32-31 win at home to Heath, scoring five tries.