WHILE Darlington Mowden Park eased their relegation worries in National Three North with a 28-15 win at Broadstreet, Darlington lost the top-of-the-table battle in North One when they went down 26-17 at Cleckheaton.

Mowden moved up two places to fifth from bottom, although they received no favours from North-East colleagues Blaydon and Tynedale.

A breakaway try three minutes from time saw Blaydon lose 15-12 at Bedford Athletic, while Preston Grasshoppers, who are one place above Mowden, proved their win at New Brighton was no fluke as they triumphed 26-8 at Tynedale.

Mowden led only 16-15 with ten minutes to go, but a powerful pack performance was rewarded with two tries to seal victory.

After a series of pick-and-drives, No 8 Jon Dye surged over from 15 metres and with five minutes left Mowden broke from their own 22 with Iain Dixon and Matt Howland making ground before centre Jonno Wilson covered the last 50 metres.

Returning captain Aaron Redaelli led the tackle count for Mowden, while hooker Chris Strong had an excellent game.

Despite playing downwind, Mowden led only 6-5 at half-time through two penalties by Mark Bedworth either side of a catch-and-drive try after Dave Sinclair was sin-binned.

Bedworth landed his second penalty from halfway following a good run by winger James Tyrrell.

Mowden went further ahead after the break when Tongan lock Kelekolia Paino picked up after good forward play and covered 20 metres to the posts.

Penalties were exchanged then Broadstreet chipped over the top and took advantage of poor defence to score, the conversion reducing the gap to one point.

But Mowden finished strongly and should be able to stay ahead of the four teams now below them.

Fly half David Dalrymple's four penalties looked to have earned Blaydon victory at Bedford until an attack broke down and a replacement forward ran 50 metres to score for the hosts.

Tynedale had no reward for dominating the first 20 minutes against Preston, and could find no response after the Grasshoppers' lively backs earned a 19-3 interval lead.

Darlington were beaten by a Cleckheaton team who proved more streetwise and got away with a physical approach against the visitors' young front five.

Former British Lions centre John Bentley also had a big influence and used his strength to score an excellent second half try, which proved the killer blow.

From the kick-off Bryan Dixon dropped the ball and the resulting pressure produced a try close to the posts for Cleckheaton in the second minute.

Within five minutes they added a penalty, but Darlington responded with an excellent try, securing the ball from the restart and working it through forwards and backs towards the right corner.

Paul Lee then chipped along the try line and left wing Paul Beattie dived on the ball to score. Kieron Thompson's conversion hit a post.

Penalties were exchanged and after 17 minutes it was 13-8. Darlington then applied sustained pressure, but Cleckheaton's defence held firm.

Beattie looked certain to score when he was tackled around the neck by the only defender three yards short. Most referees would have produced a yellow card; some might even have awarded a penalty try, but a penalty was the only reward.

It came to nothing and Cleckheaton broke out up the blind side from a scrum near their own line, evading the only two defenders who could get near them with excellent support work to score against the run of play, making it 18-8 at half-time.

A penalty in front of the posts raised Darlington's hopes, but Cleckheaton replied with an excellent kick from just inside halfway then Bentley powered over from 30 metres.

Darlington came back but two further penalties from Thompson were all they could manage.

Stockton eased their worries in North Two East with a 29-12 win at home to Alnwick, with full back Simon Moore landing four penalties and converting one of the three tries.

Back row man Brett Wildridge was driven over for the first, then Alan Brown sent winger Simon Crozier over to make it 18-5 at half-time.

Brown scored himself before Moore was floored by a blow in the mouth and Alnwick took advantage of the lack of cover to score.

After dominating the first ten minutes Middlesbrough produced a woeful half hour to trail 16-0 at half-time at Goole and lost to the bottom club 21-14.

They got the gap down to 16-14 with the help of a penalty try awarded for persistent infringement under pressure, while a break by Danny Poole set up a try for winger Tom Bivens near the posts.

Andy Micklewright added the conversions, but Goole made sure of victory when their scrum half nipped over after they won a scrum against the head.

Northern strengthened their grip at the top of Durham and Northumberland Division One when they won 17-5 at home to Gosforth, while Hartlepool Rovers were held to a 9-9 draw in another derby at TDSOB. All the points came from penalties, with Phil Hall's third for Rovers levelling the scores in a dour match.

Durham City's surge up the table with nine successive wins surprisingly ended with a 22-21 home defeat by Acklam, who were awarded a penalty try in addition to touchdowns by Chris Tyreman and Danny Ashton, with Ian Bircham adding two conversions and a penalty.