Familiarty breeding success for DMP

DARLINGTON Mowden Park have a ground that would be the envy of the Championship, and now they’re building a team that wouldn’t look out of place in English rugby’s second tier either.

In their fourth season since winning promotion to National One, Danny Brown’s side went into October riding high at the top of the league after winning their first five games with a bonus point.

Continuity of personnel is the only factor that locally-born Brown can cite as the difference between this year and last when the club finished 10th.

“In the past we’ve introduced a raft of new players each season and it took a while for them to bed in, while this year we retained 26 of the squad and only added four, two of whom, Grant Connon and Warren Seals, have played for us in the past,” Brown told TRP.

“We’ve also brought in Matt Dudman at nine and Brandon Asher-Wood from South Africa but he only came off the bench last weekend.

“I know it sounds clichéd but it’s been a real team effort, no one player has stood out above any of the others.

“Another good acquisition this summer was Mark Luffman who came in to help with the forwards.” Brown, below, added: “If you looked at our position now you’d probably say yes, we are (in a position to go up), but the most important thing for us is where we finish come April. “After winning promotion to National One we knew we had to build the strength of the squad over time to make sure that if we did go up we were able to survive and compete rather than yo-yo between the divisions. “We might still be a year or two off that but we’ll see what happens over the next few months and then we can reassess from there.

“Championship rugby would be a great place for the club to be in.”

With average home crowds hovering around the 1,000-mark at the 26,000capacity Northern Echo Arena, Mowden Park have the facilities to make the step up in grade.

Until the redevelopment of Leicester’s Welford Road, Mowden Park’s home for the last four years was the biggest rugby dedicated stadium outside of Twickenham.

“I sometimes have to take a second look when I turn up at the ground for work. This group of players know they’re privileged to play here and we owe the ground a good side to play in it,” admitted Brown.