Darlington produced a display full of character, and no little skill considering the conditions, to win the Durham Challenge Cup for the first time on Saturday.

They beat Blaydon 33-19 at Durham City, where two days of rain showed little sign of relenting, yet the teams conjured up a wonderful contest.

Having toppled holders Mowden Park in the semi-final, Darlington have now beaten the two teams who are way ahead of the rest in North One, the division they expect to be contesting next season.

Some committee men might feel they should settle for life in North One, but skipper David Andrew said: "If you are not ambitious and looking to create success there is nothing to spur the players on.

"We now have a treadmill of players coming through in all age groups and this kind of success makes young players want to develop."

On this evidence, there seems little doubt that Darlington can follow Mowden into the national leagues, substantially increasing the very small dot on the rugby map which the town represented a few years ago.

As county president, long-serving club member Bob Jackson had the pleasure of presenting the cup to his own team and shortly afterwards the champagne corks began to fly.

Founded in 1863, Darlington is the oldest club in the county and is 37 years older than the county cup, which has been dominated by Hartlepool clubs but is now staying in Darlington for a fourth season after Mowden's three successive wins.

Although they trailed 8-0 then 16-8 when facing the wind in the first half, Darlington always looked a better side than Blaydon, who scored their two tries from long range.

"They threw everything at us in the first five minutes and we kept them out," said Andrew. "After 20 minutes we knew we could win it.

"We had more belief and more desire, and we have done it for each other. It's a family club. You can see it all the way up through the minis to people like Brian Baldwin, who came on for the second half. He's about to turn 40 but he still throws himself at people and wants to play."

With the back row trio of Martin Howe, Bryan Dixon and Del Lewis leading a tireless display of committed tackling, Darlington quickly got on top after repelling Blaydon's initial onslaught.

But they were taken by surprise after ten minutes when Blaydon centre Dean Michniewicz shaped to kick from about ten metres in front of his own posts, but then opted to run.

He split the defence and on halfway his perfect pass sent winger Andy Savory galloping away on a clear run to the line.

Darlington were slightly fortunate that Blaydon fly half Lee Hogarth missed the conversion and an equally simple penalty shortly afterwards.

He found the target next time, but Darlington came straight back by kicking a penalty to touch and driving the line-out almost to the line.

They ran the next penalty unsuccessfully, but the pressure forced Blaydon to transgress again and David Glendenning made it 8-3.

A rather harsh forward pass decision put Darlington under pressure and a high tackle on Hogarth under the posts allowed him to kick his second penalty.

Again Darlington came straight back, with Lewis picking up from a scrum and feeding fly half Paul Lee, who quickly switched play to the blind side in response to a run by his brother Craig, who rolled off a tackle to score.

Blaydon's dangerous Welsh full back Gareth King then scorched over in the left corner after receiving the ball in midfield, but the game turned in Darlington's favour either side of half-time.

In first half injury time Craig Lee took a tap penalty ten metres out in the right corner and Dixon burrowed over for the try.

Turning round only three points down with the wind behind, Darlington quickly saw player-coach Phil Lancaster sin-binned for deliberately interfering with Blaydon possession when coming from an offside position.

It looked an untimely exit, but such was Darlington's determination that they turned the loss of their prop to their own advantage by stepping up a gear, driving Blaydon back so ferociously that they knocked the wind out of the Tynesiders' sails.

Good handling and swift recycling ended with Glendenning sliding over in the left corner and adding an excellent conversion.

Trailing for the first time, Blaydon sent on three replacements, but it made no difference and Glendenning's second penalty made it 23-16.

Darlington were caught napping when a quickly-taken penalty in their own half almost brought Blaydon a try. They had to settle for a penalty, and although it threatened to keep the game in the balance it proved their only score of the second half.

Darlington sealed victory with two excellent tries. First Paul Lee kicked to the corner, Glendenning caught the attempted clearance and an attack which went left then right ended with the full back putting Lewis over in the corner.

In injury time Andrew intercepted from a scrum and Paul Beattie came off the left wing to surge over, and give the scoreline an accurate reflection of the play.

Mowden Park defied injury problems and atrocious conditions to maintain their 100pc record in North One with a 28-18 win at Macclesfield.

With nine men unavailable for various reasons, Mowden had no recognised scrum half. But Jonny Golightly slotted in well and has now played in every position in the backs since joining the club in mid-season.

Plugging the gaps in the back row, Shaun Cassidy and Will Mawby both had excellent games, and Mick Kent shrugged off a back injury to make a big impact on the wing.

After ten minutes of pressure, a ten-metre rolling maul ended with a try for Tasi Tuhana, who then seized a loose ball in midfield and popped it up for Kevin McCallum to burst under the posts from 40 metres.

Two conversions by Kevan Oliphant made it 14-0 before Macclesfield came back with a penalty and a converted try, then Oliphant kicked a penalty to make it 17-10 at half-time.

Facing the wind, Mowden conceded a penalty before Oliphant kicked two to give them a ten-point cushion, only for a well-worked move to produce a try for the hosts.

Mowden clinched victory when Mawby won the ball in a tackle before Cassidy and Darren McKinnon set it up for Oliphant to send Mark Bedworth over.

Bishop Auckland won 13-5 at home to West Hartlepool Amateurs, who led 5-0 at half-time after playing downwind.

Ian Campbell kicked a penalty shortly after the interval, then Bishops scored an excellent try after Peter Sayer launched a counter-attack from his own 22. Dent took the ball on and Blanch completed the move with a powerful run.

A fine passing move involving forwards and backs was rounded off by Ed Dufton before the heavy pitch took its toll.