DARLINGTON Mowden Park's bad luck continued when they were denied a deserved win by a converted try in injury time at Liverpool St Helens.

They lost 21-20 and remain fourth from the bottom of National Three North, with three of their five defeats coming by no more than two points.

The other North-East teams came from behind with late rallies as second-placed Tynedale snatched a draw at Dudley Kingswinford and Blaydon scored three late tries to beat Scunthorpe 35-25.

In atrocious conditions Mowden performed much better than in the previous week's defeat by Blaydon and led 11-8 at half-time after facing the wind.

They dictated the next 30 minutes and were 20-14 ahead when Liverpool made three substitutions with ten minutes left and piled on the pressure.

Mowden had defended well throughout, but they started to concede penalties as the pressure grew and the winning score came after the backs fell off-side 25 yards out.

Liverpool took the penalty quickly and the ball carrier made ground before flipping up a pass which produced a score under the posts.

After an exchange of penalties Liverpool went ahead when a speedy winger won the race to touch down after a chip ahead.

But after 35 minutes Mowden's Tongan lock Kelekolia Paino picked up a loose ball on halfway and sped away to score in the corner to make it 8-8.

Fly half Mark Bedworth landed his second penalty on the stroke of half-time, then Liverpool replied to level the scores again before Mowden used the wind well by kicking to the corners to establish control.

Bedworth added two more penalties but Liverpool also kicked one after 60 minutes to stay in touch and even a huge drop goal by Bedworth couldn't finish them off.

Tynedale also had to contend with dreadful conditions at Dudley, but after three Phil Belgian penalties kept them in touch they drew level in the final minute when he converted a try by Peter Southern.

Blaydon survived a scare at home to bottom club Scunthorpe as in the space of five minutes midway through the second half they went from 18-8 up to 25-18 down as they conceded two converted tries and a penalty.

Having Andy Wright in the sin-bin for lying on the ball didn't help, but he came back on to help fellow flanker Tom McLaren hold up a visiting forward on the line when he looked certain to score another try.

McLaren had a superb game, scoring both tries as Blaydon dictated the first half hour. They got a third just before half-time as scrum half Mick Dungait nipped over.

Andy Foreman replaced Dungait for the last 20 minutes and his pace proved crucial as centre Nick Gandy, fly half Colin Duncan and Foreman himself all raced over from around halfway. McLaren was heavily involved in two of the tries.

Middlesbrough sprang a surprise in North Two East when they revelled in the mud at South Shields to end Westoe's five-game winning run with a 19-0 victory.

Westoe made the brighter start, but a blind side break by scrum half Peter Wright led to an 11th minute try for full back Andy Micklewright.

Boro then took control and after a forward drive Wright nipped over to make it 12-0 at half-time. No 8 Jim Chapman made certain of victory with a try converted by Mark Featherstone.

Stockton are alongside Boro on eight points after their second successive draw saw them held 13-13 at Scarborough.

Injuries forced Stockton to send on hooker Mark Burrows and former colts captain Peter Armstrong for their debuts.

They were hanging on at the end after Simon Moore landed the equalising penalty with ten minutes to go.

Centres Mattie Oates and Steve Thornton played well for Stockton, who defended well against spirited opponents.

An excellent penalty by Moore put Stockton ahead and they scored a converted try by Thornton to lead 10-3 at half-time.

Scarborough's Kiwi fly half Mark Edwards then landed a touchline conversion following a try by replacement Duncan Williamson, and Edwards' second penalty put the hosts in front before Moore replied.

Horden, who drew at Stockton last week, lost 24-3 at home to Hull, who moved into third place but appear to have little chance of catching leaders Bradford and Bingley, who maintained their 100 per cent record with a 37-19 win against Redcar.

Hartlepool Rovers lost their 100 per cent record when they went down 25-23 to Hartlepool in Durham and Northumberland Division One.

Rovers led 13-0 through a try by Kevin McMorris, plus a conversion, penalty and drop goal by Michael Walton. But tries by Peter Iveson, Carl Robinson, Ian Bond and Gareth Foreman, who added a conversion and a penalty, put Hartlepool 25-13 in front.

Rovers came back with tries by Darren Smith and Mick Henderson, but both conversions failed.

Acklam moved alongside Hartlepool on ten points, two behind Rovers, with a 30-6 home win against West Hartlepool TDSOB. Fly half Ian Bircham, back after injury, controlled the game and added the goal points as tries came from Chris Tyreman, Shaun Cassidy and Simon Ward.

Durham City moved further away from the bottom with a 24-13 win at Gosforth, with veteran fly half Jon Bland kicking a penalty and converting all three tries, the last of which he scored himself.