HOOKER Ross Doneghan insists Darlington Mowden Park are still going through the gears despite claiming a 19-5 win at Caldy that keeps them top of the table.

Mowden are in three-way battle with Stourbridge and Macclesfield at the summit of SSE National League Two North, all having suffered only two defeats this season.

And, after overcoming wet and slippery conditions against Caldy on Saturday, Doneghan is confident the best is still to come as the season reaches the business end.

“It was a difficult game and the conditions didn’t help.

Caldy played well, they came out all guns blazing so it was a hard-fought win,” he said.

“I think we have still got more in the tank, we can definitely improve and get more out of games. When it comes to playing the big boys, hopefully we’ll be firing on all cylinders.

“It may look like a threehorse race. The points on paper say one thing but there are other teams that are still quality sides on their day like Preston Grasshoppers and Chester.

“We have definitely got next weekend’s Preston game in our minds as they can come and do some damage.”

And, while Doneghan is quick to point out the strength in depth of SSE National League Two North, Darlington Mowden Park have now won 11 on the spin.

And the hooker admits that a game-by-game approach is paying dividends for head coach John Newton’s troops.

“With regards to 11 wins in a row obviously, we are happy but our coaches Danny Brown and John Newton are constantly saying it’s one game at a time,” added Doneghan.

“All we are thinking about is the next game and we focus on that in training week in, week out.

“Preston will be a different game than what we had on Saturday, the conditions were so bad at Caldy, but we ground out a result and coming away with a win is something we won’t take for granted.

“If we were in a different position we might be looking ahead to further games but as we are top we don’t to get ahead of ourselves. We are purely thinking about the next game and nothing but Preston.

“Now we have come away with this result it’s time to focus on training for next week. If we keep performing as we are with people’s individual performances who knows what can happen.”