Round 11 Preview: Darlington Mowden Park vs Taunton Titans

A home defeat by Leicester Lions with no bonus points secured saw Titans drop below their conquerors and further into relegation mire. Sale FC, who crossed Manchester for the afternoon and were beaten 26-11 by Sedgley Park, remain rooted to the bottom of the table and are the only side below Taunton. The teams just above both lost, Bishop’s Stortford succumbing at home 7-26 to Chinnor who move second on the table, and Cinderford defeated at Rams 24-10. This result took Rams back to the top of National League One because previously leaders Plymouth Albion fell 36-22 at Richmond.

Elsewhere Birmingham Moseley squeaked home 19-17 against visitors Blackheath and Rosslyn Park raced to victory against Darlington Mowden Park with the division’s highest score of the day, 38-7. DMP are Titans’ opponents this coming Saturday.

Formed in1946 after the war, Darlington Mowden Park has been in National League One since 2014. The impressive Darlington Arena has a 25,000 capacity and is located on Neasham Road, just off the A66 and 1.5 miles to the South-East of the town centre. Don’t be confused by the existence of Darlington RFC which is not far away at the much smaller Blackwell Meadows ground.

DMP find themselves four places and ten points above Titans on the table heading into the fixture. Their coach, Garry Law, is assisted by former Northampton Saints scrum-half Lee Dickson and the squad includes Taunton-born tighthead Carl Guest, Tongan international lock Talite Vaioleti and in the backs winger Callum McKenzie is fast approaching his 250^th appearance for DMP.

Entrance to the Northern Echo Arena is £12 per adult whilst Under 16s get in free of charge. A pre-match curry is available for this fixture, which will be served in the Executive Lounge from 12.30pm. To book, add your required match tickets to your basket on the DMP website https://mowdenpark.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/dmp_vs_taunton and you'll be given the option to add a pre-match meal to each ticket on the following page. Free parking is available at the Darlington Arena. Kick-off is at 3pm.

‍