THE threat of two Teesside clubs going down from North One is unlikely to ease tomorrow as Stockton visit leaders Blaydon and Middlesbrough entertain Darlington Mowden Park.

Stockton have drafted John Moore into their coaching team in the hope that he can rediscover some of the momentum which took the club up through the leagues when he was in charge in the late 1980s.

A senior RFU coach, he has also had charge of Durham Colts, once taking them to the County Championship final at Twickenham.

Another club stalwart making a comeback is lock John Saunders, who makes his first senior start of the season, with Keith Etherington dropping to the bench.

Andy Cowell returns in place of Jamie Brown at blind side, while Andy Bare is at full back as Dave Turner has a hamstring injury. Pedro Salahshouri returns on the wing.

The back row could soon be strengthened by the return of both Alan Brown and Brett Wildridge, who continues his comeback in the seconds.

A slight consolation for the Teesside clubs is that Northern already look doomed as they are on minus two points after having four deducted. The original penalty was for fielding an ineligible player, but now it has been confirmed that they have lost two more points for twice failing to fulfil their fixture at Macclesfield, the team they entertain tomorrow.

lBlaydon will be away to Lymm in the sixth round of the Intermediate Cup on January 27. The Cheshire club, who play in North Two West, won 17-16 at home to Bradford and Bingley in the fifth round.

Last Saturday's cup match forced Blaydon to postpone their visit to Mowden Park, now scheduled for February 3, which means they have two very big games in successive weeks. They have revealed that they came close to fielding an ineligible player against Old Laurentians last week, discovering only hours before the match that lock James Houghton had played this season for Harrogate in the Tetley's Bitter Cup.