After a dominant start in which debutant Nat Arnold and Morgan MacRae both came close to scoring, it was the hosts who hit the front against the run of play as skipper Will Jones peeled off a maul to dive over.

Garry Law landed the extras, but Darlington then lost second row Joe Craggs to a yellow card following dangerous play at the breakdown.

And the visitors swiftly made their numerical advantage pay, Tom Vooght the beneficiary from a maul before Andrew Lamb slotted a fine conversion.

Man-of-the-match Lamb, on his first start at fly-half, then produced a deft flick to send Axel Kalling-Smith away to set-up Zach Clow for the lead.

Lamb was again on target and he repeated the trick soon after, Joe Pannese showing a nice side-step and acceleration to dot down under the posts from 40 metres for his maiden National One try.

Mowden continued to battle, however, Charlie Smith burrowing over from close range before Rams sealed the bonus point via Morgan MacRae, again from the maul.

Another fine kick made it 28-12, but Park had the final word of the opening half with a terrific counter-attack, a quickly tapped penalty inside their own half booted forward before some outrageous off-loads ended with Dylan Thompson crashing over.

Rams responded well at the start of the second period, though, replacement Tomek Pozniak doing superbly to retrieve his own chip ahead before being stopped just short of the line, only for fellow sub to Ben Atkins to make an immediate impact.

Lamb landed again before his long punt was not gathered by the hosts, Kalling-Smith with the easiest of finishes for 40-17.

Rams were again playing some fine continuity rugby and Clow collected his 17th try of a productive campaign after Arnold’s inside ball send the full-back over, Lamb back on target with a belting touchline nudge.

The half-century came soon after as Atkins powered his way through a couple of would be defenders for another converted effort, although Darlington refused to yield and had the better of the final 10 minutes.

And indeed it was the hosts who had the final word, Ethan Hall-Lyon with a wonderful solo score after running in from 40 metres out.

Victory lifts Rams to a fifth-placed finish following Blackheath’s defeat at champions Richmond.