Saturday’s National One game against league leaders Ampthill will mark Alfie Barron’s 50th appearance in a Mowden Park shirt. The front row has been a first team regular since joining the club back in 2017, and he was pleased to reach such a significant milestone: “It feels great to reach 50 games in a Mowden shirt. Putting the shirt on every week feels very special.”

The 23 year old joined the club from Hartpury College, having played against Mowden in 2015. The front rower has been an integral part of the squad since making his debut against Loughborough in September 2017: “I've really enjoyed my time here. Since moving up from the south everyone has been very welcoming. We have a great bunch of lads and are a really tight knit group.”

Of the 49 appearances he’s made so far, Barron has notched 3 tries and been awarded Man of the Match honours on 4 occasions. Asked if any games in particular had stood out, he added: “The highlight for me was Rosslyn Park away this season. It was a massive shift from everyone and obviously Warren Seals (Balls of steel) slotted a last minute penalty and we won by a point.”

Barron will make his 50th appearance against an Ampthill side that currently sit 5 points clear at the top of the National One table. Asked what he was expecting from Saturday’s game, he said: “Ampthill this Saturday will be very tough as they are now top of the league. They have a big set of forwards but also pace out wide. We need to front up in all areas to get a result against them as we lost to them earlier in the season.”

A win for Barron’s side on Saturday could see them climb to 5th with only 4 games remaining after this weekend. With just over a month left in the season, Barron stressed the aim was to climb the league as much as possible: “Our goals for the rest of the season are to help the team achieve positive results in the remaining games so we can finish as high as we can in the league.”

You can see Alfie and his DMP teammates in action this weekend against Ampthill in a 3pm kick off at the Northern Echo Arena. Tickets for the game are available on the day priced at £10 for adults, £8 for concessions and FREE for U16s.