SOME props wait 20 years for their first try, so even the prospect of having to buy a jug of beer couldn't wipe the smile off Dan Miller's face when he completed a hat-trick on Saturday.

It said a lot about the efficiency of Darlington's driving maul, but they did score two brilliant tries when they opened up late in the game to complete the thrashing of last season's National Three North runners-up.

After the opening defeat at Fylde, this result will raise hopes that Darlington can compete nearer the top than the bottom in their third season at this level.

Other than teenage hooker Michael Stowe, who looked thoroughly at home, the youngsters in the pack such as Miller and athletic locks Richard Snowball and Michael Taylor now have enough experience to aspire to higher things.

They blended perfectly with the old hands in the back row, Martin Howe, Del Lewis and Alan Brown, and with victory in the bag Darlington were able to blood highly-rated teenage flanker Phil Dawson in the last 20 minutes.

There was some poor handling early on and the ball never did zip along the line, but topping 50 points against Macclesfield will have raised eyebrows throughout the division.

Darlington should have David Glendenning available after injury for their next league match away to struggling Kendal in two weeks, but they will not want to leave out fleet-footed Fijian Apenai Kororua, whose pace can be utilised on the wing if not at full back.

Contests between these sides in recent years have always been tight and there was no reason to suspect otherwise in the first half hour.

In fact, the signs were not encouraging for Darlington as poor tackling allowed the visitors to go ahead with a try, and centre Ben Snook missed two penalties and a simple conversion.

But once his third conversion attempt crept over from under the posts just before half-time he gained in confidence, converting four of the five second half tries and adding a penalty.

Darlington's best attack in the opening 20 minutes stemmed from scrum half Rob Stewart taking a quick penalty with good support from Brown, Paul Lee and Snowball. But good defence kept them out then Macclesfield broke away to score.

It took a yellow card for a visiting prop for Darlington to get back on terms as they drove a scrum five metres then recycled the ball for Miller to burrow over on the short side.

They went ahead after 33 minutes when Paul Lee did well to stay on his feet in a tackle on the 22 and the forwards piled in to drive all the way to the line, Brown touching down.

Just before half-time Kororua finished off his own high-speed counter-attack when he joined a maul under the posts and was driven over.

It was 17-5 at the break and for the next ten minutes Macclesfield were threatening to get back into it until a long pass was knocked forward into the hands of winger Frankie Coulson, who raced 80 metres to score.

Snook converted and added a penalty from wide on the left, but the visitors got the gap down from 27-5 to 27-13 with a try and penalty.

It was all Darlington in the last 20 minutes, however, with Miller finishing off two catch-and-drives following penalties to the corner.

Inbetween Howe broke off a scrum and switched the ball back inside for Stewart, who made good ground before sending winger Simon Crozier over.

Macclesfield's replacement scrum half nipped over on the blind side before Darlington topped the half-century with a superb move.

Paul Lee turned the ball inside for Snowball to take at pace, roaring through a gap and finding Howe perfectly placed outside him to go under the posts.

Macclesfield may not be quite as good as last season, but on this evidence few teams will relish a trip to Blackwell Meadows.

Result: Darlington 53, Macclesfield 18.