DARLINGTON MOWDEN PARK’S rise up the National One table continues after they backed up their impressive win at Rams with a hard-fought home victory over Sedgley Park.

Mowden trailed 15-10 at the break at the Arena, before a strong second-half comeback saw them secure back-to-back wins to start November.

“It was a cracking win for us against Sedgley,” said Mowden forwards coach Joe Cain. “We were really happy to back up the performance against Rams the week before with another great squad effort.

“Sedgley started the game well and put us under pressure in the first half, they took advantage well after losing Joe Craggs for ten minutes for his yellow card and went in at the break 15-10 up.

“We spoke at half-time about how we wanted to change a few things around our defence and the lads did that well as the game went on.”

Sedgley Park came into the game just two points off the top of the table, and things looked ominous for Mowden when the visitors led by five going into half-time.

The strength of the Sedgley pack was evident, with their two first-half tries coming from the forward pack after a dominant driving maul and scrum. Mowden’s first-half try came from scrum-half Callum Pascoe, with the two sides exchanging penalties from Josh Ree and former Mowden man Warren Seals.

The second half was a different story however, with Mowden restricting the visitors to just a single penalty in an impressive defensive display.

A 50th-minute try from centre Ben Frankland levelled the scores, before a decisive try from back row Yaree Fantini put Mowden in front. A well-taken penalty from substitute Corben Ollivent put the result beyond all doubt, before a late three points from Seals’ boot ensured Sedgley Park came away with a losing bonus point.

A real highlight of Mowden’s performance was the strength of their line-out, with Cain’s side stealing five key turnovers and winning all 13 lineouts on their own ball.

“Oscar Usher, Joe Craggs and Ollie Hodgson competed really well at the line-out in the second half, which led to us having the majority of field position as the game went on,” said Cain. “Ben Frankland and Yaree Fantini scored a couple of good tries and Corben Ollivent’s two really important kicks put us out of reach late in the game.”

The win saw Mowden climb to eighth in the table ahead of Saturday’s trip to Rosslyn Park. They then enjoy three home games in four weeks heading into the Christmas break, with a chance to climb the table further heading into the second half of the season.