DURHAM CITY took the honours in a closely-fought North One East League derby at home to Darlington.

The visitors enjoyed an early lead after Andrew Pugh marked his return from Mowden Park with a try. Neat handling by AJ Smith set up Billy McKinnon to cross the line for Durham, who eased into a 12- 5 lead when hooker John Nicols touched down with Dudley Cortland converting.

Prop Joe Hargreaves crossed to put Darlington back in to the contest but when Cortland kicked a penalty from the ten-metre line the game swung decisively Durham’s way.

The home side enjoyed territorial dominance for much of the second half and their pressure eventually paid off when Grant Thompson scored from close in.

Grant Hargreaves scored a try for Darlington in their first foray into the Durham territory of the second period but Cortland sealed the win with a penalty.

“Darlington started off really well. They were a bigger pack and they mauled it quite well but in the loose we looked better moving the ball around. I think we just about deserved it,” confirmed Durham coach Tony Howe.

In National Three North Mowden Park player coach Pete Taylor was “absolutely disgusted” after two controversial refereeing decisions cost his side a deserved victory at Chester.

Referee Simon Lazenby disallowed a Robin Eatough try before handing a late advantage to the home side in bizarre circumstances.

A couple of Richie Young penalties within the opening six minutes gave Park the ideal start but their chance of opening up a commanding lead were denied when winger Eatough crossed the line only to see his effort ruled out for incorrect grounding of the ball.

“Robin slammed the ball down as he scored and the ball bounced up. The ref disallowed it, it was a big turning point,” explained Taylor With only a couple of minutes left on the clock Park held a 13-10 lead when the home side won a line-out.

“It was just outside our 22 and their driving maul turned into a ruck. We took the ball off them and kicked it upfield to the halfway line for a Chester line-out. We thought we’d done enough to protect our lead but the ref brought the line-out back in to where Robin Eatough had kicked the ball out, which was a very strange call as they’d taken the ball into our 22 themselves,”

said Taylor.

From the resulting line-out Chester scored the matchwinning try.

“I will be including my thoughts on the referee in my monthly report to the RFU,”

declared Taylor, who reflected on an impressive performance by the Park pack, with Dan Squire outstanding.

Ben Seru’s was Park’s other try scorer.

Blaydon looked set for a late comeback at London Scottish before the home side ended the contest with a flurry of tries.

After Adam Dehaty touched down for the visitors to make the score 31-20, the game was in the balance until Scottish powered to victory with tries from Simon Amer, Stuart Peel and Ian McEnroe.

Adam Armstrong had opened the Blaydon scoring with a penalty before James Fizpatrick shrugged off the home defence to score near the posts.

Armstrong converted to make the half-time score 24-10 to Scottish. Winger Simon Barber’s try handed Blaydon an ideal start to the second half but Scottish finished the game in style.

Westoe endured a heavy 46- 10 defeat at Kendal, while Tynedale powered to a 38-22 victory at home to thirdplaced Launceston, with Dutch youngster Sep Visser scoring two tries.

Jamie Murray, Dom Shaw and Phil Belgian all crossed the line to secure a third straight win for Tom Borthwick’s side, who matched the visitors in every department.

Middlesbrough lost in controversial circumstances after the referee appeared to blow the final whistle five minutes early with the game poised 14- 13 in favour of hosts Beverley.

Middlesbrough took the lead with a penalty from Simon O’Farrell. The home side hit back with a converted try before winger Callum Campbell touched down for O’Farrell to add a simple conversion.

A second O’Farrell penalty stretched Boro’s lead to 13-7 but the home side edged in front courtesy of a penalty and Richard Bussey’s converted touchdown.

Stockton’s home game with Gosforth was called off after the Tynesiders’ declined to travel despite the pitch being declared playable. The match is expected to be rescheduled for April 17. West Hartlepool’s trip to table-topping Morley and Billingham’s game with Hartlepool Rovers also fell victim to the weather.