Despite trailing 19-0 shortly before half time, Darlington Mowden Park made a miraculous comeback to secure maximum points from their trip to Hull. Four second half tries saw DMP make it 2 wins out of 2, while a late penalty earned a losing bonus point from the hosts.

It was a tough start for Mowden, with Matt Minogue taken ill and captain Ollie Hodgson withdrawn through injury early on. Hull on the other hand made a flying start, with 3 tries in the opening half hour. Winger Keane Naylor opened the scoring after just 3 minutes, cutting inside to dive over from close range. Reece Dean converted, before Morgan Passman saw yellow after being adjudged to have obstructed the Hull winger while chasing a loose ball. A penalty try was awarded in the process to double Hull’s lead to 14. Dean extended the lead to 19 soon after, dotting down from Joe Carlisle’s chip through. Mowden had chances to get on the scoreboard in the opening half hour, however Hull defended well until substitute Yaree Fantini finally got Mowden on the board with a quick tap on the eve of half time.

DMP needed a fast start to the second half and they got it courtesy of an early try from Morgan Passman. Ben Frankland broke clear from his own half, before Passman spotted a gap in the Hull defence to dart over under the posts. Garry Law converted to narrow the gap to 7, and soon the hosts were reduced to 14 when Sione Afu was sent to the bin after stopping Callum Pascoe from a quick tap. Mowden took full advantage, and the deficit was soon reduced to 2 when hooker Ollie Fletcher powered over on his club debut from the back of a driving maul. By now Mowden had the momentum, and a second yellow card for Hull saw Liam Regardsoe sin-binned for killing the ball on his own 22. Once again Mowden responded brilliantly, and edged ahead for the first time when a maul from the resulting penalty was brought down illegally by Alex Todd. Todd saw yellow for the incident, with Mowden awarded a penalty try to make the score 19-24. The decisive try came just minutes later, again from an attacking lineout as Fantini broke clear down the far touchline to sprint in from 20 metres. A late penalty from Reece Dean ensured Hull came away with a losing bonus point, while Mowden took maximum points from an unlikely position at the half.

Scrum half Callum Pascoe was awarded Man of the Match honours after a lively display, with many brilliant performances in the DMP ranks. Mowden will be hoping to continue their winning start next Saturday when they welcome Bishop’s Stortford to the Arena in a 3pm kick off.