ALTHOUGH Darlington Rugby Club dates back to 1863, the town has no tradition as a rugby hotbed, yet it will have two clubs in National Division Three North this season.

Both Darlington and Mowden Park were in Durham and Northumberland Division One nine years ago, along with Darlington Railway Athletic.

It was Mowden who first became ambitious, prefixing their name with "Darlington" to the annoyance of their neighbours, who were pulled along in their slipstream while the RA club ceased to exist.

It wasn't simply to keep pace with their fierce rivals from across the town, however, that Darlington began their climb as it was also nine years ago that their long-held plans to move to a prime site came to fruition.

As their McMullen Road ground on the town's south-eastern fringe was alongside a developing retail park they had a buyer several years earlier, but had to soldier on in decaying premises before finally moving to their £1.5m development at Blackwell Meadows.

It still took a couple of years to get out of D and N One, where they had languished since leagues began, but they finished top in 1995-96, then followed Mowden's rapid rise through North-East divisions one, two and three.

Those divisions were then scrapped, creating North Two East, in which Darlington finished second to Halifax in 2000-2001 and won a play-off to earn a place in North One. They also won the Durham Cup for the first time that season, beating Mowden for the first time for several years in the semi-final.

At the first attempt in North One they finished fourth, while retaining the county cup with a 34-22 win against Mowden in the final.

Last season Mowden turned the tables with a 32-0 home win when they were paired together in the first round of the cup, but Darlington joined them in Three North by finishing top of what appeared to be a weaker North One than in the previous season.

The cup thrashing provided a harsh lesson in the greater physical intensity at the higher level for a team who have played open, entertaining rugby for the last six years.

Player-coaches Phil Lancaster and Craig Lee are determined that will continue as the refusal to pay big money has brought few changes in personnel over the summer.

There has been a change of management, with former bank manager Bill Jones taking over as chairman, with a view to improving the financial position.

"There was a little bit more money in the budget for us, but not a massive amount," said Lancaster.

"There are not as many people interested in playing rugby as there used to be and those who are interested want to be paid.

"That has become a lot more prominent now we are in the national league. But we are not a fully professional club and we have to consider whether they are any better than the players we have already got.

"We are still looking for a goal-kicker, which is a concern for us as a lot of our games will be much tighter this season and could be decided by a couple of penalties.

"We have achieved success through our youth structure and we want to continue that. We want quality players who are going to mix in the club and spend more time here than just the 80 minutes on the field."

There is a question over highly-promising hooker Dan Osleton's availability once he returns to Bath University, while his brother Joe has spent the summer playing in New Zealand and will not return until the end of October.

Lancaster is currently consigning himself to bench duties with Ali Carter featuring at prop in two pre-season games against the Army. As there are already a few niggles, Darlington have decided to do without a game today ahead of next Saturday's Powergen Cup tie at Blaydon.

Mowden visit Cleckheaton today for a slightly easier work-out than in last week's 42-0 defeat away to Division One club Otley. Mowden trailed only 12-0 at half-time, then conceded three interception tries.

Newcastle Falcons' longest-serving player, Richard Arnold, is helping to coach Mowden and looks likely to play for them on a regular basis unless Falcons need him because of injuries.

The 34-year-old back row man will be a more than adequate replacement for last season's captain, his fellow New Zealander Aaron Redaelli, who has returned home and retired from the game.

Adding to the back row strength is Australian Tom McLaren, who is EU-qualified and played for Blaydon last season.

Former Hartlepool and Blaydon player Andy Foreman has also joined, and although he prefers scrum half he is likely to start on the wing as James Tyrell has broken a collar bone.

Another newcomer, Ian Phillipson, is also pressing for a wing place, along with Chris Mattison, while Steve Jones has left for West Hartlepool TDSOB and centre Jonno Wilson has rejoined his home club, Mansfield.

Mowden are at home for the first four Saturdays. Next week they entertain Kendal, who were relegated last season to National Three North, in the Powergen Cup, then they face Blaydon.

Assuming the beat Kendal, they then tackle Division Two club Wharfedale in the cup before playing Darlington on September 27.

The first league programme, on September 13, is the only occasion when home matches clash as Darlington entertain Waterloo.

l Stockton's opening match in North Two East next week is at Middlesbrough, now coached by John Moore, who was in charge at Stockton during their climb up the leagues to North One.

Stockton have a friendly at Hartlepool Rovers today and will blood some younger players, including 18-year-old back row man Scott Powell