MISFIRING Mowden Park will be grateful for a week off to prepare for the visit of a Richmond side flying high with the help of Cameron Mitchell and Jack Allcock.

The drift of quality players to London underlines the North-South divide and the ex-Mowden pair scored three tries between them in Richmond's 54-5 home win against Henley on Saturday.

The North-East's two struggling National One clubs will take advantage of the rest enforced by the World Cup final to decide how they can best relaunch their seasons.

Mowden lost 50-7 away to leaders Hartpury College, while Blaydon remain bottom after their seventh successive defeat, going down 28-3 at Hull Ionians.

Having to travel for six of their first eight games, four of them against sides in the top six, has left Mowden on the back foot and they again found themselves well adrift at half-time.

They were outgunned by what looked a lighter pack as the well-drilled students dominated the set piece in the first half to lead 24-0.

Their strength was underlined by a line-out steal bringing the first try and a catch-and-drive producing the fourth just before the break.

Two more swiftly followed before Mowden began to get a foothold in the game when home flanker Jake Polledri, an Italy Under 20s player, was in the bin.

Callum Mackenzie, who again had to settle for a place on the bench, replaced winger Michael Tait and burst over to score, with Garry Law converting.

But that was as good as it got and Hartpury added two more tries in a powerful finish.

Mowden coach Danny Brown said: “It was a poor performance and we let down those supporters who travelled a long way.”

Blaydon were on top for the opening 20 minutes at Hull before a home lock scored twice in quick succession. He broke through a tackle on the wing to charge over then romped in from 20 metres after a charge-down was followed by a lucky bounce.

Hull, who were sharper at the breakdown, added two more converted tries in the second half before Blaydon got back on top, only for skipper Keith Laughlin to knock on in the act of touching down.

Tynedale moved out of the bottom three in National Two North when a controversial late try gave them a 20-18 home win against Preston Grasshoppers.

When replacement Sam Gaff forced his way over the referee ruled that the ball had not been grounded, but changed his mind after consulting a touch judge.

Full back Ash Smith added the conversion to complete the overhaul of a 15-0 deficit and end a run of five defeats. He also scored a try and kicked a penalty, with the third try coming from young winger Dan Marshall.

West Hartlepool failed agonisingly to end the two-year unbeaten record of North One East leaders Doncaster Phoenix when Gavin Painter's late penalty slid narrowly wide.

West fought back gamely from 28-13 down but two converted tries left them still one point adrift at the close.

They led 6-0 through two Painter penalties, but conceded 20 points before line-out ball was fed out for Peter Youll to find Luke Mallinson, who cut inside to score.

The late rally began when Ryan Painter finished a series of pick-and-drives, then his brother put up a high kick which Scott Butcher took at high pace, only to be illegally taken out, resulting in a penalty try.

Billingham continued their improvement in Three North with a good 28-15 home win against fourth-placed Wirral, despite have two men sin-binned after leading 28-3 at half-time.

Leaders Sheffield Tigers beat Huddersfield YMCA 80-3 with ex-Mowden man Mark Ireland landing ten conversions.

Durham City consolidated top spot in D & N One when they burst Novos' bubble with a 48-5 away win.

City's nearest challengers, Middlesbrough and Consett, also had emphatic wins, Boro beating visitors Gateshead 43-3 with two tries each for skipper Rob Bellerby and winger Rhys Kilbride.

The other winger, Ben Wood, made an impact as an improved performance by the forwards allowed Boro to build on a 17-3 interval lead. The other tries came from Conner Foley, Toby Tremlett and Michael Thornburn with Simon Moore adding four conversions.

Consett won 54-7 at home to Darlington, whose points difference reads minus 300 from eight games, compared with plus 231 for their hosts. Despite a 25-minute period in which they scored 18 unanswered points, Stockton crashed 52-23 at Medicals.

They dominated most of the first half but had nothing to show for their early efforts then went 12-0 down before fighting back, only to concede a converted try on the stroke of half-time to trail 19-18.

With the wind behind them they expected to take control but whenever they tried to move the ball wide they gave away possession and Medicals capitalised.

Stockton's tries were scored by Mark Conway, Craig Slaughter and Steve Tampin with Dan Phinn adding a conversion and two penalties.

The top two in D & N Two lost their unbeaten records, Hartlepool losing 21-16 at Blyth while Barnard Castle went down 17-14 at Whitley Bay. Winlaton took over top spot after a 26-21 home win against Bishop Auckland.