Darlington Mowden Park made a winning start to the National One season on Saturday with a victory over Chinnor at the Darlington Arena. Garry Law’s side ran in 3 tries in torrential conditions, while the visitors snatched a late losing bonus point courtesy of a last minute penalty.

Mowden made an ideal start to the game, scoring 2 tries in the opening 10 minutes both coming off the back of a well drilled lineout. The first came through Liam Checksfield, who linked up beautifully with centre partner Ben Frankland in midfield before handing off the Chinnor fullback to score under the posts. Matt Minogue added the early conversion on debut. Mowden didn’t have to wait long for their second, as a well-worked move saw Ollie Hodgson feed Morgan Passman on half way and the winger sped away from Chinnor’s cover defence. Chinnor responded well, and got themselves on the board with a Will Kelly penalty minutes later. The visitors then began to grow into the game, with their forwards having more of an impact as the half wore on. Mowden were reduced to 14 on the half hour mark when Will Jones was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock on, and Chinnor narrowed the gap to 3 soon after when Jason Worrall crashed over from close range. Chinnor were themselves reduced in numbers when Max Heathman infringed at the breakdown after a break from Callum Pascoe. Minogue slotted the penalty to extend DMP’s lead to 5, before some outstanding work from Henry Hadfield won a vital penalty on DMP’s own 5m line to see us through to half time. 15-10.

Conditions worsened further in the second half, with torrential rain making handling difficult for both sides. A Will Kelly penalty edged Chinnor closer, before the decisive try came on the hour mark courtesy of Ben Frankland. The DMP centre picked and went from a ruck in midfield, before weaving his way past the Chinnor fullback to stretch the advantage to 7 points. Both sides rung the changes in the second half, with debutant Max Fraine doing well to hold up a Chinnor driving maul over the line. A Matt Minogue penalty eased the nerves of the home supporters as the gap grew to 10, as Mowden went in search of their fourth try in the final stages. Some impressive footballing skills from fellow debutant Yaree Fantini saw the back row chip ahead from half way and almost regather in the corner, before Chinnor’s Dean Hammond was sent to the bin for playing the ball on the floor. Mowden pressed on for try number 4 late on, but it was Chinnor who had the final say with a late Will Kelly penalty earning them a hard-fought losing bonus point from their trip to the North East. 23-16

DMP will no doubt be pleased with their performance in such testing conditions, with a number of new faces making good impressions on their first league outing. Liam Checksfield was deservedly awarded Man of the Match honours after a strong all-round performance from the outside centre.

Mowden will now travel to Hull next Saturday in Round 2, while Chinnor take on Rams on Friday night.