Darlington Mowden Park 40 Otley 22

Once again Otley were swept aside by a hard-running side with a similar approach to their defensive work.

Darlington’s desire to get hold of the ball by any means possible saw them concede 21 penalties, compared with just three by Otley.

There were also yellow cards for the hosts’ No 8 Daniel Dixon on 39 minutes and lock Guy Van Den Dies after 77 minutes.

But their determination forced Otley into untold errors and they were quick to ram home the advantage.

Immediately forced back to their line, Otley conceded a try to scrum half Zylon McGaffin, which was converted by No 10 Grant Connon. The fly half failed just once with his boot during the afternoon.

The visitors began to settle down, only to lose possession in the home 22 and see the ball swept upfield for full back Max Connon to score.

Shaking off this lethargy, Otley came out purposely after the break.

Centre Tom Rock sliced through a hitherto tight defence to give flying winger James Twomey a mere 45-metre run to the corner.

However, at the restart sub hooker Andy Tonkin took the ball at speed to race through and put Grant Connon over. That was quickly followed by a try for No 7 Luke Wishnowsky.

Centre Cameron Mitchell and Max Connon added further touchdowns but, at last, Otley found their feet.

A fine run, instigated by Toby Williams with Adam Blades, playing his 100th consecutive game for Otley, twice involved, saw sub Ben Fairclough cross the line.

Young prop William Rigg went in under the posts, Stephen Depledge converting with a drop kick, and Jonathan Matthews scored just before the final whistle to claim a bonus point.