A bumper crowd watched Barney lift the league title trophy after thrashing title-rivals Houghton at the Demesnes, writes Nick Raper.
The hosts performed brilliantly in their final home league game of the season, scoring an impressive 15 tries in a superb exhibition of free-flowing, attacking rugby.
Castle were formally crowned champions of the Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland division following the final whistle while Houghton were confirmed as runners-up.
Both are promoted to Counties 1 Durham & Northumberland and both sides were applauded onto the pitch by a guard of honour formed by members of the Barnard Castle RFC junior section.
Houghton arrived with a slightly unfamiliar line-up, missing several regulars and a near full-strength Barney took immediate advantage from the kick-off as Ben Parker powered his way over for the opening try with only a minute or so on the clock.
With man-of-the-match Ralph Makepeace on target with the conversion Castle had a very early lead.
Makepeace quickly doubled the Barney lead when he gathered a loose ball and raced through for the try, which he converted from out wide to make it 14-0.
Player/coach Marty Lonsdale was next to score, spotting a gap from the edge of the Houghton 22 and charged over.
Houghton were desperate to establish themselves in the game and exerted pressure on the Barney line, but a great break by Elijah Delaidriti saw Reggie Langton in support and a final offload to Robbie Lavin saw him go over for the bonus point try.
Castle then went on a try scoring spree as from each restart, they ruthlessly pressed home their advantage with Rhys Quinn, Makepeace and Langton all scoring in a try-scoring blitz of running rugby and superb handling.
It was 45-0 at half time and Castle rang the changes. It was one of the replacements, Maurice Batiuluna, who opened the second half scoring as he brushed aside defenders to dot down under the posts.
With Houghton desperate to get on the scoreboard their eagerness led to a couple of interceptions that resulted in tries for Makepeace and Delaidriti, taking the score to 66-0.
A break by Eddie Anderson saw Tom Steen bag a well-deserved try and from the restart Bats claimed a second superb solo try to make it 78-0, before Houghton were finally able to claim a late consolation.
There was still time for two more Barney tries, first from Harry Parker, who ran the length of the pitch to score, and from Oscar Jacques on the final whistle to take the final score to an incredible 90-5.
After the final whistle both sets of players celebrated their promotions together as Castle were presented with the league trophy by Durham RFU representatives.
Barney play their final league match at Whitley Bay Rockliff tomorrow (Saturday) and will be bidding to achieve the incredible feat of winning all 22 fixtures.
Then, on May 9, they are away to Hartlepool in the semi-final of the County Cup, a competition Barney won last season.
Barnard Castle: 1 Marty Lonsdale (Lifestyle Logistics), 2 Doug Shaw (RCA Coaching Academy), 3 Rhys Quinn, 4 Sam Bell (Dickinson’s Agriculture), 5 Henry Thompson (The Old Chapel, Staindrop), 6 Joe Gibbons (S Patterson & M Coates), 7 Ben Parker (Potts Groundworks), 8 Eddie Anderson (Tim Anita), 9 Reggie Langton, 10 Ralph Makepeace (D Souter Farrier Services), 11 Tom Steen (Pulse Accountants), 12 Elijah Delaidriti (S & RD Parker), 13 Harry Parker (Fox and Hounds, Cotherstone), 14 Robbie Lavin (C & J Marshall), 15 Oscar Jacques (Beauty Therapy Clinic), 16 Jack Worley (The Worleys), 17 Maurice Batiuluna, 18 Jon Lucas (Mel & Adrian)
