Consett made changes for the visit of Darlington with Lewis McQueen and Chris Gray unavailable in the forwards so Johnny Walls and Chris Urwin started from last week’s bench with Richard Cleaver and Jack Clark last week’s back replacement supply cover this week. Alex Paulus was not available so Nick Cook moved from wing to full back allowing Steven Pendleton to start on the wing with Conner Gates as cover on the bench.
Darlington started well playing with a strong breeze at their backs allowing their strong forwards to carry hard and retain possession creating penalty opportunities which were spurned to kick for the corner however Consett’s defense was defiant and no tries were conceded. Any possession Consett had they ran back at Darlington making good territory without sustaining any pressure on the Darlington line. However on 15 minutes Darlington again found themselves on the attack and were awarded another penalty 5 meters out in front of the posts. Second row John Rowbotham was carded by the referee. Again turning down the opportunity at the posts and opting for a scrum. This was repelled by some excellent tackling and Tom Johnson launched an attack which was halted on the Darlo 10m line with a penalty to Consett which Nick Cook slotted for a 3-0 lead when Darlington could and should have had a 12-0 lead themselves with better game management which would have increased the pressure on the home side. Straight back on the attack from the restart with Stephen Walls and Ryan Williams linking with strong running and subtle off-loading creating another penalty attempt by Cook and a 6-0 lead.
More good work by the half backs now controlling the game resulted in a break by Tom Johnson and 2 phases later the ball moved out to Seven Marshall who strolled over for the first try of the match converted by Cook and 1 13-0 lead as Rowbotham came bac onto the pitch to return Consett to the full complement of players. This period of play clearly rocked Darlington and another Cook penalty into the strong wind took the lead to 16-0 as Consett loosened up and started moving the wide at every chance. Darlington did have a good 5 minutes of pressure just before the break but a turnover by Stew Grazier was feed to Haydn Petch who went inside and out, over players and round players before eventually being hauled down 15m out, from the ruck Joe Trott broke spinning his way towards the line before off-loading out of the tackle for Tom Johnson to score in the corner. Conversion missed and half time score 21-0.
On came jack Clark in the back row for Stephen Walls with Grazier moving to No8.
The PETCH 15 minutes after half time were dominated by the twins which resulted in 3 converted tries all coming from scrums taken against the head by Connor and his front row pals Mark Sadler and Johnny Walls. The first by Haydn Petch under the posts, then by Steven Pendleton in the left corner and the third by Haydn again and score 42-0.
On came Richard Cleaver for Mark Sadler to bolster the front row and Connor Gates for Steven Marshall in the center.
A series of penalties conceded allowed Darlington to progress into Consett’s 22 and after some strong running and clever lines Darlington scored in the corner adding the touchline conversion 42-07 providing more evidence that early penalties should have been kicked to exert more pressure on the home side.
From the restart some powerful carries by Chris Urwin and Matthew Varley was finished off with a dazzling run from Ryan Williams conversion missed and 47-07. Back came Marshall on for Johnson and the final score came after quick ball was delivered from the base of a ruck to Connor Gates now at stand off who delivered a perfectly weighted pass inviting Haydn Petch to scythe through the midfield and scamper 35m to score 54-07 with the Cook conversion.
Solid performance from a developing squad working hard in training under the guidance of Jon Benson and Phil Wallis.

15-N Cook, 14-M Varley, 13-S Marshall, 12-H Petch, 11-S Pendleton, 10-T Johnson, 9-J Trott, 1-M Sadler, 2-C Petch, 3-J Walls, 4-J Rowbotham, 5-C Urwin, 6-S Grazier, 7-R Williams, 8-S Walls (Capt), 16-R Cleaver, 17-J Clark, 18-C Gates.

No game next week for the World Cup Final but the following Saturday we are away to top of the table Durham City 2.15pm kick off.