Rugby: Irwin hat-trick as Mowden rout Northern

Flanker Tony Irwin, returning after injury, scored a hat-trick of tries as Mowden Park won their North Division One match at Northern 57-0.

Darlington also travelled to a Northumberland club who had always been above them in the league structure and made it three wins out of three in North Two (East) by beating Morpeth 32-0.

Round two of the cup sees Mowden entertaining West Park (St Helens) with the reward for victory being another home tie against Old Colfeians, from London, or Norfolk club North Walsham.

The odds are stacked against Darlington, who visit National Division Two club Wharfedale and will have to travel to Plymouth Albion or Westcombe Park if they win.

Mowden are expecting a tough game against West Park, who include former England winger Nigel Heslop.

But the improved performance against Northern gave cause for optimism, with more fluency in the backs as young centre Mark Bedworth scored two tries.

Hooker Tasi Tuhana continued his excellent form and also touched down twice, getting the first try in the second minute after Jason Malcolm won a line-out. Further pressure led to quick ruck ball, which was moved left for Bedworth to dummy through and reach the line.

A counter-attack by full back Kevin McCallum set up the next try as he caught the ball in his own half and cut inside to link up with Irwin, who brushed past the full back to score.

Fly half Kevan Oliphant then dummied inside his opposite man and spun out of two tackles to touch down before adding his third conversion to make it 26-0 at half time.

The second half began much as the first with a Malcolm line-out setting up a drive for the line, with flanker Aaron Radaelli touching down this time.

Mowden were playing flowing rugby by this stage and when Northern tried to attack they fell offside after a crushing tackle by Mick Kent. From the quickly-taken penalty Phil Harvey sent Irwin over.

After Ian James went on for lock Steve Sanderson and Jonathan Malcolm for Kent, Tuhana launched a move deep inside his own half and finished it off after good linking between backs and forwards.

Nathan Thrown went on at prop for Dave Sinclair before Bedworth scored again after a good run by Chris Mattison, then McCallum again broke out of his own half to give Irwin the chance to complete his hat-trick. Oliphant added his sixth conversion.

Mowden seconds played their first match of the season and won 30-7 at home to Northern. John Stewart scored two tries, with others coming from Jon Brown, Phil Thompson and Richard Scott, who added a penalty and a conversion.

The colts won 17-0 at home to Blyth, with prop Mark Bell (2) and lock Gary Dent touching down and Kirk Thompson kicking a conversion.

Morpeth's rangy, hard-working forwards gave them a territorial advantage in the first half against Darlington, but the backs posed little threat and took the wrong option with the one clear chance they created.

Darlington lost lock Neil Burnside after 15 minutes with a cut head, so Bryan Dixon went on and they got on top in the last few minutes of the half.

Kieron Thompson kicked a penalty after 37 minutes and when they ran another from a similar position close to the posts Mark Butler was tackled just short. But the ball was recycled for the other winger, Paul Beattie, to score in the corner and Thompson converted from the touchline to make it 10-0 at half-time.

Scrum half Robbie Stewart then had a big hand in tries for fly half Paul Lee and lock Sandy Fitzpatrick and also raced 60 metres to score himself before being replaced by David Andrew for the last 15 minutes.

Lee's try came two minutes after the break when Stewart broke up the left after a strike against the head by Rob Goddard. Beattie took Stewart's pass one-handed and cut inside to send Lee over.

An interception by No 8 Del Lewis led to Stewart's try, then he again broke up the left and the ball went through three pairs of hands before Fitzpatrick touched down.

John Coleby went on for prop Phil Lancaster before Beattie got the fifth try when he followed up an angled kick by Paul Lee. Thompson converted and although there was some late Morpeth pressure they never looked like scoring.

Darlington seconds were flattered by the margin of a 45-25 win against Morpeth, who had big forwards and slick backs and went 25-21 ahead with a converted try just after half time.

But Darlington came back strongly, with Barnard Castle teacher Nick Gregory scoring two tries and two more newcomers featuring strongly in Navy prop Rob Liddell and former Sandal player James Diamond.

Marc Potts, who scored over 400 points for the first team last season, marked his return from injury with a try, three penalties and three conversions, while winger Lee Bowman touched down twice.

The thirds beat Morpeth 16-3 against the run of play, thanks to excellent tackling in the backs by Peter Beecroft, Brian Alston and Mike Bradley.

They came back from 3-0 down through two penalties by Alston, a drop goal by Beecroft and a try by Paul Carter, converted by Alston.

Bishop Auckland moved away from the foot of Durham and Northumberland Division Three when they won 19-7 at Wearside, while the seconds lost 39-25 at home to Wearside