Mowden's 2023/24 campaign ended in entertaining fashion with a 12 try exhibition at the Darlington Arena on Saturday. Garry Law's side ran in 6 of those tries to run the league champions close and claim 2 bonus points in the process.

It was a significant game for many reasons, with Callum Mackenzie making his 250th appearance and Ollie Hodgson running out in a DMP shirt for the final time. Three former DMP players were also making their return to the Arena, with Mark Darlington, George Stokes and Morgan Passman all starting for the visitors. It was the latter who opened the scoring, latching onto a loose ball to race clear and dot down. Chinnor doubled their lead soon after through Mark Darlington, and Mowden fans could have been forgiven for expecting a long afternoon against the league leaders. DMP showed their quality though, and took the lead after a ten minute burst that saw 3 tries. First Obi Ene dotted down after some good hands from Ollie Hodgson and Callum Pascoe, before Yaree Fantini intercepted on half way to sprint clear. Mowden's third was the pick of the bunch, with a flowing first phase move seeing Josh Ree dive over out wide. Chinnor hit back immediately however, with Grant Hughes charging down a DMP clearance to dot down within seconds of the restart. A frenetic first half continued when Hughes was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock on, with Mowden awarded a penalty try in the process. The visitors had the final say in the half though despite being down a man, with Passman crossing for his second after a smart offload from Connor Brockschmidt. Nathan Chamberlain's conversion saw Chinnor take a 2 point lead into the interval.

The end-to-end nature of the game continued in the second half, with Brockschmidt scoring Chinnor's 5th of the afternoon on the 50 minute mark. The momentum then shifted back in DMP's favour, with Ene crossing for his second to bring the hosts back within 2. Oliver Curry was shown red for comments made to the assistant referee after the try, and Mowden took advantage when Fantini gathered his own chip ahead to score in the corner. Fantini was injured in the act of scoring after a collision with Passman, but Pascoe converted brilliantly from the touchline to take Mowden 5 clear. The visitors showed why they're top of the league however, re-taking the lead late on through Passman and seeing the game out to clinch a narrow victory in Round 26.

Fantini was given Man of the Match honours after a dynamic display, and Mowden will take great heart from an impressive performance against a very strong Chinnor side. Our congratulations go to Chinnor on their promotion, and we wish them all the best in the Championship next season.

As the sun sets on an eventful 2023/24 season we'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout the year. Saturday's game marks the end of an era for some of the Mowden Family, and we wish those departing the very best for the future, including club stalwart Ollie Hodgson who departs to a new challenge with childhood club Middlesbrough.

We look forward to celebrating the successes of the season at Friday's awards dinner, click here for more details.