Blaydon turn on the style to thrash Fylde

A 13-7 half-time deficit became a 48-13 win, keeping them in third place in National Three North.

Blaydon set out to run Fylde off their feet - tactics which prompted a late decision to recall Dan Clappison at fly half. But things took a while to click as Fylde drove over from a line-out then kicked a penalty to lead 10-0.

Blaydon went back to basics for a while, driving a line-out 20 metres for lock Dave Whitehead to score, Clappison converting.

Fylde landed another penalty but quickly found themselves under siege in the second half as Blaydon scored after 45, 48 and 53 minutes.

Clappison shot through the middle to score, then a good run by Sua Segi set up hooker Matt Hall, who shrugged off two tackles to touch down.

Then came a scintillating score when Blaydon won a scrum just inside their own half and slick passing through a dozen pairs of hands ended with centres Segi and Martin Shaw combining cleverly to put full back Michael Campbell over.

Powerful winger Andrew Fenby broke through three tackles to score from 15 metres before Blaydon sent on four replacements after 70 minutes.

One of them, Richard Windle, kicked a penalty and added an injury time conversion after James Kyle capped a useful first outing at scrum half by chipping over a flat defence to touch down.

Darlington were delighted with a 28-23 win at Hull, who are one place below them in seventh spot but now trail by ten points.

The division's leading try scorer, No 8 Alan Brown, grabbed his 17th of the season as Darlington picked up their third away win, coming back well after seeing a 13-5 half-time lead become a 23-20 deficit.

Rob Stewart, normally a scrum half, made an impressive comeback at outside centre after a three-month injury lay-off, while another former Barnard Castle Schoolboy, winger Gavin Clegg, scored a debut try after Frankie Coulson was injured.

Lee Davies, continuing his improvement at full back, landed three penalties and converted two of the three tries.

Darlington played well in the first half but conceded a breakaway try when leading 6-0. Then came Brown's try when he took a quick penalty near the posts and took two men over with him.

Darlington had prop Paul Shepherd and hooker Rob Goddard sin-binned in quick succession in the second half, and although Hull No 8 Derek Eves was also yellow-carded the hosts got on top.

But Shepherd finished off a driving maul on his return, then Clegg's try and Davies' third penalty sealed the win.

With the uncertainty over relegation set to linger until the end of the season, Mowden Park's hopes of dragging Leicester Lions into the mire receded when they lost 25-15 away to the Midlanders.

Mowden went 12-0 up after six minutes, but by half-time they were 17-12 down and they gave the ball away too often and made too many mistakes on the way to their sixth successive defeat.

Nor were they helped by losing lock Iain Robinson after 15 minutes, when he was stamped on and suffered a knee injury.

Leicester scored while Mowden were re-organising after sending on Eni Gisende earlier than intended, bearing in mind his appearance for the Newcastle Development XV tonight.

Centre one week, lock the next - Gisende underlined his versatility, while Newcastle student Anthony Mellaliew made a promising debut at fly half.

Mowden scored after three minutes when winger Sam Cataki grabbed a loose ball and passed to Robinson, who chipped through for full back Iain Dixon to score.

Then flanker Matt Wright got on the end of a good backs move to touch down, but the Lions came back by kicking a penalty to the corner and driving over for a converted try.

They added a penalty then opted for a scrum when awarded another and, despite wheeling it 90 degrees, scored under the posts.

Dixon missed two penalties when Mowden were on top early in the second half. Mellaliew took over and found the target to make it 17-15, then his fellow Newcastle student, Robert Kalbraier, went on for his debut as prop Ian Keeligan was struggling with a back problem.

The Lions landed a penalty and scored their third try five minutes from time when a speculative kick from their own half bounced kindly.

Durham City remain third in North Two East after a 34-16 win at Percy Park, where they stretched a 10-9 interval lead to 34-9 before the hosts scored at the death.

Skipper Jeff Roberts finished off a catch-and-drive after three minutes, James Walker converting. He added a penalty as City built a 10-3 lead, but Percy Park landed two penalties late in the first half.

Three minutes after the break City fly half Nick Howe broke through to score, then full back Ralph Smith caught a clearance on the ten-metre line and shot straight through the home pack to touch down.

The final try came when left winger Will Rubie popped up on the opposite flank to finish an excellent move featuring forwards and backs. Walker added three conversions and another penalty.

City remain three points behind leaders Penrith, who won 24-20 at Hartlepool Rovers, despite losing the try count 4-3.

Rovers led through Jason White and regained the lead with tries either side of half-time from Simon Rutherford and Jared Stevens. But Penrith then forged 24-15 ahead before Gareth Foreman gave Rovers late hope.

Improving West Hartlepool are only two points behind Rovers after avenging their 9-6 defeat at Stockton with a 48-8 home win.

But for the second successive week West had a player sent off and this time it happened in the second minute.

When Stockton skipper Brett Wildridge appeared to kick an opponent West prop Brett Cullinane hit him from behind and laid him out, earning a red card. Wildridge was sent to the sin-bin but was unable to resume.

With fellow back row man Wayne Brown pulling out with a back problem and hooker Danny Muirhead unavailable, Stockton were severely depleted.

But they battled hard until their fitness levels were again found wanting as, for the second successive game, they shipped a boatload of points in the last 15 minutes, when West scored five tries.

West handled well throughout, although one of their first half tries was a gift when they were awarded a penalty 20 metres out and Stockton turned their backs.

The tries were scored by Paul Rudd, Tim Sawyer, Danny Weegram, Peter Hodgson, Andrew Hare, Darren Thomas, Carl Robinson and Danny Boatman. Stockton fly half Jeremy Good landed a 40-metre penalty and winger Tom Jeffery rounded two men to score.