NEWCASTLE Falcons pair Richard Arnold and Martin Shaw had an unhappy debut for Darlington Mowden Park in a 24-20 defeat at Fylde.

Shaw, who had been suffering from sickness, lasted only 15 minutes before retiring, and the reshuffle which took Iain Dixon to centre with Richard Holbrough going on at full back didn't work.

Arnold was sin-binned after five minutes for a high tackle, otherwise he showed his leadership qualities, only for the backs to let Mowden down.

They came back from 24-8 down with two late tries, but had no-one to match home centre Carl Long in a generally scrappy game.

Fylde scored while Arnold was off and converted from the touchline, but Mowden pressure resulted in a penalty for Mark Bedworth after 25 minutes.

Dixon then had a kick charged down for Fylde to score another converted try and Mowden were fortunate when a penalty under the posts was missed after Tony Irwin was sin-binned for a technical infringement.

Mowden had defended well, but poor tackling saw them concede another try after 48 minutes.

They then began to fight back and from a scrum on the right the back row linked up well as the ball was moved left and flanker Tom McLaren scored.

But Long split the Mowden defence again to score the try which put the match beyond them, despite Dixon finishing off a good move involving forwards and backs.

The final try came at the death when the ball was worked through the back row after a pick-up from a scrum and when it was moved out lock Kelekolio Paino took a short pass to score.

Blaydon lost top spot but were happy with an 18-18 draw at Liverpool St Helens, proving their strength in depth as two newcomers impressed when going on as replacements.

Hooker Sam Walton and former Scotland Under 19 player James Rennie had to go on at the same time as No 8 James Keany was injured in the build-up to Matt Hall's try. There was a suspicion that someone stood on Hall after he had scored and he had to retire with a knee injury.

Blind side flanker Peti Keni was outstanding for Blaydon, who were on top early on but conceded a series of penalties and trailed 8-0.

David Dalrymple replied with a penalty but Blaydon then tried to run from their own 22, lost the ball and Liverpool scored again.

Hall crashed over to make it 13-8 at half-time and it was all Blaydon as Dalrymple kicked another penalty then converted his own try for a five-point lead.

But a long kick which went out on the full proved costly as Liverpool won the line-out, recycled three times and scored to level the scores.

Middlesbrough remain third in North Two East after a 38-20 win at home to Horden, who led 13-9 just before half-time.

Alistair Little, a recent recruit from Glasgow, proved a key man for Boro as he successfully switched from centre to scrum half when Peter Wright was injured after five minutes.

Fly halves Danny Bishop and Andrew Turner exchanged penalties in a scrappy opening in which Boro were twice penalised for pulling down mauls, and when it happened again Ian Bradford was sin-binned.

A try by scrum half Luke Watson gave Horden their lead, but Boro were awarded a penalty try when Little was tackled without the ball, then he made a break which was finished off by centre Lee Davies in first half injury time.

A try by Horden full back Paul Bruce, converted by Turner, reduced the gap to 21-20, but Boro scored three more tries without reply. Good passing brought the first, then Little weaved through from 30 metres and skipper Gavin Fingland drove over from a maul at the death.

Stockton slipped to the bottom when they lost 29-13 at Westoe, despite an improved performance. With Alan Brown likely to be out a few more weeks with a torn calf, his deputy at No 8, Scott Powell, scored a first minute try before Westoe landed three penalties.

Flanker Ian Todd then drove over to give Stockton a 10-9 interval, but Westoe followed a fourth penalty with a good move from which full back Craig Stephenson scored.

After a Nicky Walters penalty for Stockton the score stayed at 17-13 for some time before Westoe scored from a forward drive and two more tries in the last five minutes gave them a flattering margin.

Morpeth and Hull comfortably maintained their 100 per cent records, Morpeth winning 39-9 at West Hartlepool while Hull scored six tries in a 43-12 victory at Redcar.

Winger Glen Ransom and flanker Graeme Evans touched down for Redcar.

West's match was held up for 20 minutes early in the second half when prop Mark Cholmondeley suffered a back injury. He was taken to hospital, but the damage proved not to be as serious as feared.

With 18-year-old Newcastle Falcons Academy boy Toby Flood leading their backs, Morpeth led 25-3 at half-time. West landed two more penalties before a Flood try halted their fightback.