DARLINGTON MOWDEN PARK head into their first home game of the National One season tomorrow afternoon as they host unbeaten Cinderford at the Darlington Arena.

A testing schedule saw Mowden start the season with two away trips in the opening fortnight, following up an opening-day defeat at Chinnor with an impressive win over Sale FC.

Inside centre Ben Frankland was central to Mowden’s success last weekend, scoring one try and setting up another in a Man-of-the-Match performance.

"Overall, we are pleased with the way we have started the season," said Frankland. "One win out of two challenging away fixtures is a positive result.

"Even though we lost at Chinnor on the first week of the season, there were plenty of positives. It’s a new squad and we played some good rugby in patches, and we were disappointed to lose.”

Last weekend's away win was a welcome success on the road for Mowden, and came against a side who missed out on promotion to the Championship by just a single point last season.

"Saturday was huge," continued Frankland. "Away victories are hard to come by and to beat Sale away - a team who performed exceptionally at home last year - is fantastic. We were motivated by the loss the previous week, as we believed our performance deserved more the week before.”

This season has seen Mowden field a new-look side with a number of young players joining the squad over the summer.

Following the retirement of key players Chris McTurk and Dave Fisher, Mowden have recruited well over the summer with the likes of Eoin Harrison, Oscar Usher and Harry Yates all being handed their first taste of National One rugby in recent weeks.

Yates, in particular has impressed, forming a new partnership in the centres with Frankland.

"The new lads have settled in really well," said Frankland. "All of the squad worked hard in pre-season and it didn’t take long for everyone to pick up our systems, structures and calls. A lot of the new players have played together in either previous clubs or universities which has helped everyone settle in quickly.

"Harry has made a great start to the season and been impressive in both games. I think we complement each other very well and I believe we can continue our recent form for the rest of the season.”

Garry Law has named four changes to his starting line-up for tomorrow's game, with Max Fraine, Sam Kyle-Clay, Drew Davison and Callum Mackenzie all handed their first starts of the season.

"We can’t wait," said Frankland. "It’s always great playing at home and we all know how fantastic the support is. We want to make this a difficult place for teams to visit and we are fully focused on getting a positive result in our first game at home.”

* Tickets for tomorrow’s game are available on the door priced at £12 for adults, with Under-16s being admitted free.