Wharfedale 45, Darlington Mowden Park 21

A GAME of fast, open rugby was won by Wharfedale due to their dominance of a first half which saw them go in 24-0 ahead.

The Darlington forwards looked strong for a lengthy period of the second period and, with the gap narrowed to 31-21, looked for a bonus try to get even closer.

But a breakaway try from Dan Tai seemed to finish them off and another quick attack by the hosts led to a penalty try and gave them a comfortable victory.

The opening 20 minutes had been close, with neither side able to break the deadlock. Ali Wade eventually opened the scoring for the Greens, with Jamie Guy kicking the first of his conversions to finish 100 per cent on the day.

Guy stretched the lead to ten points with a simple penalty before Max Wright crossed for Dale's second converted try.

After a poor Darlington restart, the Green machine won the scrum and Rob Baldwin burst through before feeding James Doherty, who spun through a number of tackles to score.

Simon Uzokwe opened Darlington's account, Garry Law slotted the extras.

Wharfedale forced Nathan Myers over before Darlington surged back into the game with converted tries from Benjamin Frankland and a second for Uzokwe.

But Dale's final flourish finished off a good day at the Avenue as the Greens logged a first home win.