Darlington Mowden Park 24-33 Taunton Titans

TAUNTON Titans snapped their three game losing run to defeat Darlington Mowden Park away from home on Saturday.

It was a hard fought victory at the Northern Echo Arena in which the Titans proved they can match it in this division.

A late Yaree Fantini try rescued a bonus point for Mowden Park but it wasn't enough to stop the Titans from winning the match.

Taunton made a fast start, and capitalised on any DMP errors to open up a commanding first half lead.

Some indecision from a high kick saw Will De Boehmler latch on to a loose ball and stride over for the opening try, before Titans skipped Charlie Wright stripped the ball on half way and gallop over for their second.

Mowden responded through Ollie Hodgson on the back of a driving maul, butTaunton soon had their third when Noah Fenton eluded the DMP defence to score under the posts.

Taunton's bonus point try followed when Ratu Vakalutukali dotted down on the half hour mark.

DMP did manage to narrow the gap to 14 when Henry Hadfield dived over following some good work from Ben Frankland.

But at the break the score was 12-26 and the Titans were in control and looking likely to carry on and win.

In the second period Taunton looked like extending their lead early in the second half, but Mowden defended well to keep out a powerful Titans maul on multiple occasions.

Darlington then grew into the half and won a series of penalties in the Taunton 22, but were dealt a sucker punch when Fenton intercepted and sprinted the length of the field to score.

A try for Harry Yates maintained hope of a late DMP comeback, by Yaree Fantini's try came too late as the final kick of the game drifted narrowly wide.

All in all a much needed win for Taunton as they now move up to 12th place in the National One Rugby table.

In the match, Noah Fenton further highlighted his talent and potential picking up two more tries in this match keeping him atop the league's try scoring charts.

The Taunton side will now look to use that win as a springboard to pick up more points before the New Year.

Up next, they host Sale FC on Saturday, December 2 at Veritas Park. Kick off is 3pm.

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