DARLINGTON 36 DURHAM CITY 34

By that stage the attritional forward-orientated rugby played by the hosts had taken its toll on them, all of their replacements being on the field before the interval and then, from the first minute of t5he second half, being forced to play 30 minutes with 14 men and the last 10 with 13.

The signs looked ominous for City from the start, when the much bigger Darlington pack shoved them off the ball at the first scrum and went 7 – 0 up a minute later when flanker Kevin Gilroy was comfortably driven over from a lineout. Scrum-half Mark Baldwin converted and a long afternoon looked in prospect for the visitors when 4 minutes later, No.8 Paddy Dias was forced to withdraw.

But they hit back immediately after chasing a kick and hacking on for centre Arnie Stevenson to score, only for the Darlington pack, whose dominance in the set- scrums continued throughout, to respond by driving No.8 Colin Rogers over from a 5 metre scrum for a 12 – 5 lead.

What was quickly becoming apparent though was that, with limited set-piece possession but plenty in the loose, the City backs had a distinct advantage. 20 minutes into the game, stand-off Tom Hodgson broke to score under the posts from a lineout, full-back Paul Armstrong converted, added a penalty and then they worked the short side of a scum brilliantly for replacement flanker Richard Knowles to send winger Rob Smith scampering 30 metres to score in the corner and establish a 12 – 20 half-time lead.

But with the retirement of flanker Rick Turnbull straight after the interval, Darlington seized their chance, and although the City backs always looked dangerous when they ran , the home pack’s driving mauls against reduced numbers was increasingly significant as the game went on. Rogers got his second try from a driven 5 metre scrum, prop Joe Oselton was driven over from a maul near the City line as Darlington recovered the lead at 22 – 20, and from then on it was tit-for–tat as far as scoring was concerned.

First, Smith sped home for his second City try after good work by Knowles, Armstrong converting, then Darlington stand-off Sam Hardy shot through to score from a 5 metre scrum and Baldwin converted only for Smith to reply with his third try which Armstrong converted to give City a 29 – 34 lead.

But with the visitors reduced to 13 men when a forward was yellow-carded for the last 10 minutes, Darlington’s mauling strength was finally decisive, winger Tony Taylor getting the touchdown in a massive pile-up on the City line and Baldwin converting from wide out to sink a City side who nevertheless can take great credit for their performance in the circumstances.

City’s next league match is not until 4th January when they entertain Gateshead.
CITY: Paul Armstrong (c), David Gibson, Arnie Stevenson, Darren Witte, Rob Smith; Tom Hodgson, Will Paxton; Kenny Reader, Mike Hay, Benny Parkinson, Matthew Sayer, Liam Wilson, Rick Turnbull, Jeff Roberts, Paddy Dias.

Replacements : Richard Knowles, Chris Metcalfe, Tim Mackay.