THERE was no gloating from Darlington, no whingeing from Mowden - just welcome signs of bridge-building after Saturday's Durham Cup semi-final.

Negotiations were under way for Mowden to play one of their outstanding league fixtures in midweek under floodlights at Blackwell Meadows in the hope that the two clubs between them can provide a potent county line-up.

Mowden want their players to play county rugby, but the signs were that their fixture backlog would not allow it.

Now there is a chance, and as an enthralled crowd of almost 1,000 witnessed on Saturday, between them the town's two clubs are capable of serving up some very impressive rugby.

Most of the glitter on this occasion came from Darlington, who in 15 glorious minutes either side of half-time scored four tries to turn a 17-8 deficit into a 32-17 lead.

Mowden had looked comfortable, but when lock Ian James was sin-binned, allegedly for stamping, in the last ten minutes of the first half the game changed.

Darlington's plan to run at the weakened Mowden backs brought rich rewards with David Glendenning, Craig Lee and Mark Butler repeatedly exposing flawed defence.

Glendenning's superb running from full back played a big part in four of the six tries, with Lee and Butler scoring two each.

While Darlington flanker Martin Howe was at his most combative, if anyone was high on derby passion it was Butler.

His clashes with opposing battering ram Mick Kent are often features of these matches and Butler announced himself with a clattering tackle on his old rival and finished by handing him off on a triumphant 50-metre run to the line.

It seemed to sum up the amazing turnaround in a match which was going according to the script when the Mowden forwards drove to the line and Kent burst on to a pass from Kevan Oliphant to establish the 18-7 lead after 20 minutes.

What followed rattled Mowden way beyond their expectations, and they could find no way back. In the second half they looked a shadow of the side who went out of the Tetley's Bitter Cup so unluckily at Birmingham and Solihull.

A few of the Darlington side remember losing four times to Mowden three years ago, and after losing last season's county final they were determined to make a fight of it.

"A lot of it is to do with self-belief," said player-coach Phil Lancaster. "I said in the changing room beforehand that with the side they had out we could 40 points on them.

"Some of the players said afterwards they thought I was on a different planet for saying that, but we did it.

"We set out to tie in their back row to make their front five work harder and that worked quite well. I wouldn't say it was the best performance since I've been here, but we did play very well throughout the team."

James, Tasi Tuhana and Aaron Radaelli were all prominent during Mowden's dominant phase and good work by James set up the opening try for full back Jonny Golightly, who had already gone close.

Then a searing break by Lee led to the equalising try, finished off by the forwards rolling over in the right corner.

More Mowden forward pressure brought a try for Tuhana from a penalty five metres out before Glendenning kicked a penalty to reduce the gap to 10-8.

A line-out drive saw Tony Irwin and Tuhana stopped just short, but with the home defence tied in Kent had a simple task to score and Oliphant's first conversion seemed to underline Mowden's control.

But no sooner had James gone off than Paul Lee broke and his brother just failed to hang on to the pass under the posts.

Darlington shunted their opponents backwards at the next scrum, but Radaelli came away with the ball, only for Glendenning to take play back to the Mowden line, where the ball was moved out for Butler to step off the right wing to score.

Shortly after the interval Glendenning counter-attacked from a failed clearance and he added the conversion after Craig Lee strolled through some flimsy tackling.

Mowden immediately took off John Stewart and put Jonny Brown on the wing, with Kent switching to centre.

It made no difference as Paul Lee clung on to a low pass and sent his brother under the posts without a hand laid on him.

Not even Harlequins in last season's Tetley's Bitter Cup tie had done this to Mowden and they were still at sixes and sevens two minutes later when Glendenning broke from his own 22 and sent winger Marc Potts over.

When Darlington lock Sandy Fitzpatrick was sin-binned with 15 minutes left there was still time for Mowden to come back.

They had two fresh props on in Danny Brown and John Hodgson, but Darlington continued to hold them in the scrums. Glendenning kicked a penalty with five minutes left and in injury time came Butler's final flourish after a Mowden move broke down in midfield.

Nothing had gone right for them in the second half, and while there was disappointment that their three-year reign as cup holders had ended there were some in the camp who felt that the kick up the backside would stand them in good stead.

They have eight games left to maintain their 100 per cent record in North One and promotion will secure their place in the Tetley's Cup.

Barring a change in the rules, Darlington will be there as well. This time they hope to make it as Durham Cup holders for the first time after twice being beaten finalists in the last five years.

They await the winners of the Blaydon v Westoe tie, which Blaydon will be keener than ever to stage in midweek as their fixture backlog worsened on Saturday with the postponement of their match at Chester.

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