BOTH Darlington and Mowden Park are likely to be interested in the services of Middlesbrough's Wes Henry following his eye-catching debut for Durham on Saturday.

The flying winger scored two tries as Durham built a 21-0 lead, only to be overpowered by county champions Yorkshire, who won 49-24 at Wharfedale.

Henry, an Irishman who qualifies for Durham by virtue of living in Stockton, is a student on Teesside and is about to qualify as a physiotherapist.

He isn't certain to stay in the area, but if he does he could also have a number of Yorkshire clubs knocking on his door.

His pace has been known for a couple of years, but he has had little chance to shine in a struggling Boro side who have now been relegated to North Two East.

Wharfedale, staging a county match for the first time, somehow latched on to the fact Durham's debutant centre Ian Drummond was the brother of Hartlepool's new mayor and announced the fact over the tannoy.

But it proved a tough baptism for the Hartlepool Rovers captain against players from clubs four or five rungs higher up the league structure.

While props Brett Cullinane and Dan Miller did well, and Miller's Darlington teammate Martin Howe tackled himself almost to a standstill, Durham were overpowered in the second half.

Miller burrowed over after five minutes and with Mowden's Kevan Oliphant also converting Henry's two tries, Durham led 21-0 after 25 minutes of excellent rugby.

Henry's first try was a real eye-opener as he received the ball just inside his own half, scorched past his opposite number and rounded the full back as well.

He then came in off his wing to go under the posts from a planned move, but the game began to turn around and Yorkshire's pressure brought a try for the scrum half.

Former Wales fly half Colin Stephens, who moved from Leeds to Sedgley Park, then landed a penalty to make it 21-8 at half-time.

Athough new skipper Rob Stewart also did well in defence for Durham, they won very little ball in the second half and Yorkshire scored steadily, although two tries in the last five minutes gave them a flattering margin.

As first round losers, Durham now go into a plate competition and face Middlesex at Old Merchant Taylors next Saturday, when Oliphant and Mowden winger Steve Jones are unavailable.

Northumberland reached the semi-finals of the Tetley's County Shield with a 32-22 win against East Midlands at Alnwick.

Horden were confirmed as champions of Durham and Northumberland Division One with a 41-19 win at Consett, who finished next to the bottom.

Ashington finished second and will play off against the Yorkshire Two runners-up for a place in North Two East.

* Plans to play Darlington's North Division One match at home to Aspatria today have been scrapped, with the game being rearranged for May 25.

There is a possibility it will not go ahead, however, as the Cumbrians could be safe from relegation by then.

This seems to hinge on whether or not Hull Ionians gain promotion from North One by winning their play-off against Midlands One runners-up, Walsall