ALAN Brown became the second Darlington forward this season to score a hat-trick and as the tries again all came from mauls it summed up how their game has changed since arriving in National Three North.

Twenty of the 28 tries they have scored this season have been by forwards and No 8 Brown has seven of them.

Despite a few deft touches from Paul Lee, there was no spark in the backs and little sign of the goal-kicking problem easing, which meant that in the end Darlington had to hang on to win a match they led 29-10.

Any ambition they have to rediscover some of the fluent rugby of old is being stifled by spoiling old stagers like Ionians' No 8 Derek Eves and officials with little apparent desire to see a game flow.

For the second successive match at Blackwell Meadows an interfering touch judge, interminable stoppages and several unseemly scraps contributed to a poor spectacle in which there were 18 minutes of added time.

One player from each side suffered a head injury in dubious circumstances.

With Martin Howe deciding to give his leg injury another week and Phil Dawson also injured, Darlington switched Michael Taylor to open side and gave Stuart Palmer his full debut at lock.

They and Richard Snowball at least gave some youthful impetus to a match which Eves, the ex-Bristol back row man, tried to control, as much by influencing referee Mike Reid as through his own niggly and disruptive deeds.

Further evidence of veteran influence came when Brown, who has just turned 38, briefly found himself up against his old West Hartlepool back row partner from the early nineties, Mick Watson, who went on for the last 30 minutes.

But it was when Brown retired midway through the second half that Darlington began to struggle.

They weren't helped by Mr Reid awarding a penalty try against them for pulling down a maul following a line-out. When Ionians committed the same offence in the same spot in the first half he opted for a yellow card.

The visitors were briefly down to 13 men when a disbelieving Eves was also sin-binned just before half-time, but the worst offence, a high tackle which poleaxed Brown, brought only a ticking-off.

All Brown's tries came in the first half, but with Lee Davies missing two conversions and Craig Lee one, they led only 15-10.

The first try came after a Paul Lee kick put them into the visitors' 22 for the first time, and Hull came back to lead 7-5 after they also scored from a line-out drive.

Darlington scored immediately after both yellow cards, but a break by lively inside centre Adam Rice gave Ionians the chance to land a simple penalty in added time, so Eves' absence was not too costly.

It was shortly after he returned that Darlington enjoyed the lucky break which gave them a useful cushion. It followed a rare bout of good handling up the right, but after a series of pick-and-drives there was a clear knock-on before Snowball seized the loose ball to charge over.

Davies converted, Joe Oselton went on for prop Paul Shepherd for the last half hour and Darlington quickly scored again.

Paul Lee jinked back inside to set up a maul and Dan Miller was driven over by the posts for Davies to convert again.

That might have been the signal for a repeat of the 50-point rout of Macclesfield, when Miller scored his hat-trick.

But the reshuffle of the pack didn't help, with hooker Rob Goddard joining the casualties after taking three strikes against the head.

The penalty try came with 20 minutes left, but while they shaded the rest of the match Ionians managed only two penalties.

There was a scare when they broke out strongly from their own 22, but an excellent tackle by Davies saved the day.

Result: Darlington 29, Hull Ionians 23.