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| A one minute silence in memory and tribute to PCs Matt Blades and Tom Clough. |
Darlington's first XV will once again be competing in Counties One, against clubs such as Old Boys, and they set off at pace dominating territory in the first quarter which ended with a deserved five point lead.
West finally brushed the cobwebs aside in the second quarter with Hayden Hodgson making a break for the line which ended with Sam Knight going over in the right corner. Hodgy then put his side in front as he finished off a catch and drive.
That was followed by a strong finish from Elliott Reed (above) after typical intelligent work from Rob Thorn on his return to the club.
That preceded a gem from Max Tennant. He started his lightning run 50 metres out on his left touchline and was untouched as he sped to the posts to make it 22-5. Chris Atkins then took the half-time score to 29-5 - once again finishing off a catch and drive.
That lead was quickly extended to 29 points as Kyle Jamieson went over .
Darlington responded with a purple patch of their own - scoring twice before the evergreen Greg Edwards got West back on track.
Great work from centre Tom Carling then set up scrum half Joe Cholmondeley for spectacular finish between the posts to make it 48-19 at the end of the third quarter. The final quarter seeing less drama with Edwards scoring the only try to add to his tally.
Next Saturday the First XV host Northern in another warm-up game with a Stags and Bucks squad off to Consett.