RAMS head coach Seb Reynolds was delighted with his side as their perfect start to life in National One continued with an 11-7 victory at Darlington Mowden Park.

An outstanding rolling maul presented Jamie Guttridge with Rams only try of the afternoon in the eighth minute, which when converted by Alex Seers gave the visitors a 7-0 lead.

A further penalty from the fly-half gave Rams a 10-0 half-time lead, but Darlington gave themselves hope when fly-half Warren Seals collected his own kick and off-loaded to Euan McKirdy for a converted try which cut the gap to three points.

However, despite the two sides throwing everything at one another, the only remaining points were another Seers penalty, giving Rams a third straight win.

And a delighted: Reynolds said “I thought we were very good in shutting down an extremely dangerous attack, which is a great credit to the boys and in particular to (defence coach) Danny Batty and (forwards coach) Owen Root because our defence was exceptional and our set-piece gave us a great platform to operate from."

“I thought we also dealt very well with the long journey and the overnight stop and that’s a great credit to our volunteers and in particular (manager) Matt Maxwell, who works tirelessly to keep the Rams show on the road."

Having been promoted higher than the club has ever been before, Reynolds added: “We are really enjoying the challenge and the opportunity to meet new teams up and down the country.

"On Saturday we played in a fantastic facility with a brilliant atmosphere and it was so nice to see Darlington's minis providing a guard of honour and the youth section getting behind their side. I think that’s what community rugby is all about."

Rams face an intriguing home clash with nearest rivals Chinnor on Saturday (2.30pm), and Reynolds is expecting a 'huge challenge'.