Darlington yesterday hit out at the RFU's administration as their fixtures were thrown into further chaos.

Following Aspatria's withdrawal at short notice from last week's North One match at Blackwell Meadows, Darlington have now been told the game might be rescheduled for next Saturday, when they are due to entertain West Park St Helens.

That's because West Park's top-of-the-table match against Halifax was abandoned last week after 59 minutes when Halifax ran out of front row players.

The North One fixture secretary has now told Darlington he wants the West Park v Halifax match to be replayed next week, unless West Park appeal, which they may well do as they were leading by one point in the original encounter. Although not everyone agrees with their decision to postpone their Durham Cup semi-final against West Hartlepool because of the Queen Mother's funeral, Darlington have been one of the few clubs to toe the party line with regard to county cup dates.

It backfired on them when Stockton pulled out of their first round clash too late for Darlington to rearrange a league match.

Their game at Wigton, postponed on January 5, is still pencilled in by the league for April 20, the day of the Durham Cup final. If Darlington beat West in the semi-final they will be able to give only three days' notice of being unable to play Wigton.

With all this confusion also threatening to throw the County Championship into chaos, Darlington spokesman John Morgans said: "The general administration needs to be improved because of the financial pressure on clubs, so that we know what we are doing.

"The RFU want all the advantages of professionalism, but they can't be professional in this middle area. One hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing.

"Fixture secretaries are left in limbo and it makes it very difficult for clubs to be professional when we have to fund the cost of minis and juniors to keep the game alive.

"At North One level a lot of teams are going to go forward in cup competitions and the RFU have to be aware of that."

Darlington are still without Paul Lee because of a leg injury for today's match at Aspatria, so Ian Dobson will again be at fly half.

With Mark Power still out after his knee operation, army man Paul Radford takes over at lock from Tom Wilkinson, who is on the bench. Prop Dan Miller and No 8 Bryan Dixon also return.

Darlington will field a Development XV against the Royal Artillery under the Blackwell Meadows floodlights at 7.30 on Wednesday.

Darlington Mowden Park complete their home programme in National Three North hoping to avenge their heavy defeat at Scunthorpe. Mowden were in decline at the time while Scunthorpe were on a winning run, but things have since been reversed.

James Isaacson, whose departure for Australia has been delayed, is back at tight head, with Dave Sinclair joining Jonny Marston on the bench as Steve Sanderson is paired with Richard Mangles at lock.

Chris Strong keeps his place alongside Mick Kent at centre, but there is likely to be an outing at some stage for former Darlington player Kieron Thompson.

In the battle of the bottom two, West Hartlepool visit Sandal with Dan Wright in the back row for Stuart Bennett, who has been banned for 12 weeks for his part in a punch-up against Liverpool St Helens. Blaydon rest utility back Nick Gandy for their trip to Nuneaton, but there is still no guarantee of a place for former Mowden player Jonny Golightly.

Middlesbrough try Steve Wallis at centre alongside Ben Roach in their North One match at Chester. The winger turned flanker is pressed into a new role as Tom Lariston and Andy Micklewright are both on police duty. Although Ian Wilson is waiting for a hand injury, he has been told he can play and will appear at full back, with John Newton and Danny Poole on the wings as Wes Henry is unavailable. Skipper Richard McRae returns at No 8, but Ben Pattinson has a thigh injury so Andrew Gardner will be at blind side.