Darlington Mowden Park notched their opening win of the National One season on Saturday with a 33-22 win over Bishop’s Stortford at the Darlington Arena. An end-to-end game saw the lead change hands several times, but a strong second half showing from the hosts gave them a vital home win.

Mowden made the ideal start, scoring inside the opening minutes through centre Garry Law after a break from Ollie Walker. The visitors replied instantly, with Alex Rayment crashing over from a driving maul. A Warren Seals penalty extended the home side’s lead to 5, before another quickfire reply from the visitors levelled the scores as Josh Stannard dived over in the corner. The momentum then seemed to swing the way of the visitors, as Sam Bryan notched their third try shortly before a yellow card for DMP fullback Paul Jarvis. Despite being down to 14, Mowden then levelled on the eve of half time as centre Ben Frankland dived over for his second of the season. The hosts then looked to have taken the lead after a Freddie Lockwood interception but the play was called back for offside, leaving the scores 15-15 at the break.

A nervy start to the second half saw another Seals penalty give the hosts the lead, before Stortford yet again answered in perfect fashion with a well taken try for Jack Scantlebury after an interception in midfield. The remainder of the game was then dominated by the home side, with 2 tries for man of the match Will Jones. Both tries came from sharp hands from the backs to work the ball wide, with the Welsh back row finishing well on both occasions to open up an 8 point lead. A late Warren Seals penalty made sure of the win, with the visitors coming away with a 4 try bonus point after contributing to a thoroughly entertaining game in the North East.