Darlington 12 Middlesbrough 60

WHEN David Andrew first played for Middlesbrough 18 years ago Darlington did not feature on their fixture list as it would have been no contest. When he went on for the hosts on Saturday he must have reflected that things have come full circle.

Last season Darlington were two divisions ahead of Boro and, partly in the belief that they couldn't continue to progress with veterans in their team, they had allowed Paul Lee and Martin Howe to slip away to Acklam Park.

Lee and Howe didn't exactly return to haunt them on Saturday, as the fly half in particular had an armchair ride.

But their very presence provided a stark reminder of how the downward spiral has gathered pace since their departure from Blackwell Meadows.

Attempting to breed club loyalty by bringing players up through the ranks is extremely laudable, but the pre-season enthusiasm shown by players and coaches cannot be sustained on the back of heavy defeats.

That's why Darlington need Andrew to play for more than 20 minutes, because for all his promise 18-year-old scrum half Brian Thwaites cannot be expected to prosper behind a lightweight pack.

Sadly, the same could be said for the rest of the backs, where there is plenty of ability in the likes of Rory Wood, Andrew Pugh and new full back Evan Haigh, while Jimmy Atkinson put in a couple of lively runs on the wing.

The defence was again found wanting, but the fact that Boro did not double their 43-5 half-time lead at least showed that Darlington were prepared to keep battling.

Andrew's presence undoubtedly helped. He is part of a coaching team of loyal club men determined to turn things round, but the biggest impact he can make is on the field.

Darlington are bottom of the table and desperately need a win at home this week to Liverpool St Helens, who are two places above them, otherwise a second successive relegation will start to look inevitable.

Whether a second successive promotion is feasible for Boro can only be judged against stiffer opposition than they have faced in the last two weeks. They look a solid side but need key men like scrum half Peter Wright and Dave Richardson to stay fit if they are to maintain the sparkle they showed in scoring ten tries.

That Darlington were not going to earn any sympathy from the referee was quickly evident as a harsh knock-on decision put them on the back foot and Boro No 8 Jack Aldus scored off the back of a scrum.

A good run out of defence by Haigh set up Darlington for the pack to drive over, but from 7-5 down they shipped 36 unanswered points in 30 minutes.

The rout started with Wright showing his pace by racing round the back of a line-out and veering back inside to score.

It took just one pass for them to burst straight down the middle on the restart and an excellent move saw Wright stopped just short.

But from a line-out impressive centre Lee Rust turned the ball inside for hooker Richard Horton to score.

Flanker Matt Wright then followed up to touch down when the ball appeared to have gone forward in the tackle, and after Darlington prop Mark Cammiss was sin-binned for preventing a quick penalty Ali Carter took over for the rest of the match.

Boro kicked the penalty to touch and drove over, then wingers Lewis Connor-Hardwick and Paul Norris completed the first half scoring.

Home winger Gavin Clegg intercepted 40 metres out to go under the posts on the resumption.

But Boro kept the score mounting with tries from Peter Wright, Rust and full back Simon Moore, who added five conversions