AFTER their cup defeat at Kendal the previous week, the Cumbrians told Mowden Park they would survive comfortably in Division Two. The difficulty would be getting there.

Further proof of this came against a Waterloo side clearly determined to reverse the slide which has brought them down to National Three North, and it looks as though fifth or sixth place is as good as Mowden can hope for.

They again lost their grip in the middle of a match they could have won, and their strong finish wasn't quite enough as Mark Bedworth's conversion attempt at the death drifted narrowly wide.

Mowden miss the hard edge Steve Sanderson brought to their forward play and the all-round dynamism of Tony Irwin, whose heel problem has finally been diagnosed as two fused bones, requiring an operation.

With lock Ian Robinson suffering a knee injury after 30 minutes, Kivahanoa Faleovalu went into the back row, with Kelekolia Paino switching to lock. But these wet conditions were hardly suited to Tongan seven-a-side stars, whose different wavelength is not helped by the language barrier.

Paino picked up a loose ball 30 metres out and his pace off the mark quickly took him clear for Mowden's second try after 17 minutes as they turned a 5-0 deficit into a 14-5 lead.

But between the 26th and 50th minutes they shipped 21 points without reply, and just as they were responding in encouraging fashion hooker Chris Strong was sin-binned for foul play.

Bedworth landed a simple penalty just before Strong returned, but Waterloo immediately replied, leaving Mowden with 15 minutes to salvage a win.

Against a less organised and resilient defence they would have managed it, but two tries in opposite corners were not quite enough.

The consolation was that it was a rousing match, and five years ago Mowden could not have contemplated meeting such an illustrious club in league combat.

It didn't help that injuries forced acting captain Bedworth, who has become an excellent full back, to switch to fly half.

His half back partner Richard Holbrough was his usual lively self, but road-testing their link-up in these conditions was not ideal and the backs saw little of the ball.

Waterloo scored with their first attack after nine minutes when they drove a line-out to 20 metres, then an astute cross-field kick allowed right winger Fergie Griffies to touch down.

Then Mowden scored two individual tries in quick succession, both from around 30 metres. First full back Iain Dixon jinked through, then Paino surged away following a drive by flanker Jon Dye. Bedworth converted both, the second from wide on the left, and Mowden looked in control.

Waterloo's superior mauling, however, proved crucial and after another line-out drive their fly half, Tony Handley, brought the ball back to the narrow side and flanker Dave Mercer forced over.

Mowden came back strongly, but when an attack broke down with Dixon in the line the full back had to race back 60 metres to prevent a try. The lost ground proved costly as Handley landed two penalties in added time to give Waterloo a 16-14 interval lead.

Four minutes after the restart they went further ahead when they were awarded a penalty which could have gone the other way for a high tackle on Dixon. They kicked to the corner and drove over from the line-out.

Handley converted from the touchline then landed a 48-metre penalty after Dixon was turned in the tackle and penalised for not releasing. Mowden roused themselves while Strong was off, and after a jinking run by Holbrough was stopped just short of the posts Bedworth slotted a penalty.

It was Holbrough again who made 30 metres from a quickly-taken penalty to set up camp in the left corner, where Mowden finally won a scrum against the head and Bedworth barged over.

But despite incessant pressure, it was four minutes into injury time before they breached the Waterloo line again, with centre Matt Howland scoring five metres in from the right corner. Bedworth struck the conversion well, but it was always going left.

Result: Darlington Mowden Park 27 Waterloo 29.