Darlington edge it

But it was too close for comfort as they squeezed home 27-24 at home to a very useful Bizzrkenhead Park side.

Darlington led 20-17 after an excellent first half, but after a converted try each on the restart the wet conditions prevailed and there was no score in the last 27 minutes.

Although there was always a danger that the visitors would break away to steal victory, home coach Phil Lancaster resisted the temptation to come off the bench as the Osleton brothers, Joe and Dan, battled it out with Dan Miller's assistance in the front row.

"The front five did really well," said Lancaster. "I'm particularly pleased with Joe Osleton's progress this season. His try today was exactly the sort of thing we want him to do."

An early injury to winger Frankie Coulson worked in Darlington's favour as they reshuffled the backs to accommodate the powerful Tosh McIntee at centre and he had a big hand in the first try and scored the second.

After going 7-0 down, Darlington produced a 20-minute purple patch to forge 20-7 ahead, but Birkenhead seized on two mistakes just before the interval to score two tries and ensure a tight contest.

The match was well refereed by former Durham County captain Steve Havery, although his decision to award the visitors a penalty try after four minutes was questionable.

The fly half chipped through to the posts from just outside the 22 and was tripped by Paul Lee, and it seemed Havery's decision came more by way of punishment than from any certainty that a try would have been scored.

With Kieron Thompson ill, Paul Beattie returned to the Darlington side and came off the left wing on an angled run to take a Dave Haswell pass and score the first try after ten minutes.

Paul Heslop missed a simple conversion, prompting Craig Lee to take over the kicking and he landed the penalty which finally separated the sides as both scored four tries.

Penalties to touch followed by forward drives helped set up the next two tries. First McIntee burst on to Paul Lee's pass to go under the posts, then Joe Osleton picked up and drove over.

Just when a comfortable half-time lead looked likely, a poor clearance allowed the Birkenhead left winger to kick ahead, regather and step inside to score near the posts. Then on the restart a wild hack directed the ball straight to the visitors' nippy scrum half, who darted away to set up another try.

Darlington stretched their lead to ten points after the forwards stole the ball as the visitors were driving on from a line-out just inside their own 22. David Andrew's quick pass created a gap, which Paul Lee skipped through to score by the posts.

The visitors came back with another good try by the left winger, set up by a clever chip from the fly half, but as the ball became increasingly difficult to handle Darlington's lead was enough.

Darlington Mowden Park had to press Tony Irwin into service for 70 minutes at New Brighton, even though he is awaiting a heel operation.

With ten players already out through injury, last week's two-try hero, John Hutchinson, went down with tonsilitis, so Jon Dye played at No 8 with Irwin at blind side in the 34-0 defeat.

In driving rain, Mowden competed well for 50 minutes against the second-placed club in National Three North, with Iain Dixon enjoying a good game at full back.

Mowden conceded 26 points in the last half hour with Tongan back row man Loa Topou, a former Stockton player, scoring two tries.

It was 8-0 after 50 minutes, but Mowden's heads began to go down when a penalty try was awarded against them for pulling a maul down. New Brighton scored further tries after 59, 61 and 80 minutes.

Mowden remain fourth from the bottom and are four points adrift of the team above them, Preston Grasshoppers, despite beating them home and away.

Preston won 15-11 at home to Blaydon, who lost fly half Colin Duncan just before half-time with an injury which could keep him out for some time.

His two penalties were scant reward for the Blaydon pack's dominance and once he departed they had to rely even more on their forwards.

Preston scored a breakaway try and were then awarded a penalty try after Blaydon pulled a maul down, and a try by flanker Andy Wright was not enough for the visitors.

West Hartlepool are four points adrift of third bottom Huddersfield in North One after losing 13-3 at home to the West Yorkshire club in a dour match. A penalty by David Tighe reduced West's deficit to 7-3 just before half-time, but two second half penalties plunged them nearer North East Two.

At least they can look forward to plenty of derby matches against Middlesbrough, Stockton, Horden, Westoe and Redcar.

Despite a 29-3 home win against Scarborough taking them into third place, Boro are well adrift of the top two, while Redcar eased any relegation worries with an 18-3 win at Stockton.

Boro's workmanlike performance saw them dominate, although it took them 24 minutes to score. Forward drives produced tries for scrum half Peter Wright and back row men Gavin Fingland and Ben Pattinson, while good passing put centre Andy Micklewright over for a 12-3 interval lead.

Fly half Carl Burnett kicked two conversions before he was injured and replaced by Danny Bishop, who added a penalty and converted Pattinson's try.

Full-strength Redcar were too powerful for depleted Stockton in heavy conditions and an early line-out drive brought a converted try for Matt Hemingway.

Fly halves Steve Bryce and Simon Moore exchanged penalties then straight after half-time Redcar skipper Neil Cook picked up and drove over. Bryce converted and added another penalty.

Northern won 9-7 at Hartlepool in the top-of-the-table clash in Durham and Northumberland One. Hartlepool led 7-6 aheadat the interval, but Northern landed another penalty.

Hartlepool Rovers remain two points behind Rovers after a 42-13 win at home to Gosforth, with Phil Hall converting all six tries, two of them scored by Andrew Arnell.

Ashington are also in the frame after a 36-3 home win against Acklam, who slipped below improving Durham City, who came back from 10-0 down after five minutes to win 29-16 at Ryton. Horden reached the fifth round of the Powergen Intermediate Cup when they won 23-8 at home to Winnington Park, and in the Junior Vase Seaton Carew won 15-10 at Novos.