ROLLER COASTER MALTON
James Knock
Firstly please head over to Eventbrite and buy your tickets for the Senior Awards Evening, Pie on the Night, awards will follow then an evening with Nick Salisbury on the karaoke. If you have any dietary requirements please whats app Johnsy. 07368579269
Buy your ticket here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/senior-awards-evening-tickets-324376628227
A bright and breezy afternoon at the Gannock with a very firm surface greeted our visitors Moortown two league places and seven points clear of the hosts. Malton needed to collect the full five points and wait on their neighbours Scarborough v Driffield result to possibly finish eighth in the league.
Malton set off playing towards the football club end and on three minutes had scored 5 points with a smartly taken penalty by Angus who found Emms driving up to the red zone and two phases later Dunn was driven over.
Five minutes later Head found space and the whitewash after good work by the three quarters marshalled by Triffitt in an unaccustomed no12 shirt again with the tricky wind holding up the conversion attempt.
On ten minutes the bulldozer on the wing Stephenson barged his way to the line courtesy of another Emms storming break this time converted.
On twenty one minutes the roller coaster reached the apex of its track when the combination of Stephenson, Hughes, Bulmer and Gibbons took the ball to the visitor’s line and on the second phase the rumbustuous Featherstone rumbled over for another 5 points.
22 points to nil and the crowd was mildly excited and roaring their approval. But and there is often a “but” in rugby, Moortown rocked the hosts back on their collective heels with the visiting back row supporting their backs who were now in the groove and running riot through the weak home tackling. The result was 19 unanswered points scored by the no6 then the no8 and finally the no 7 with 2 conversions to give Malton something to discuss as they sucked on their half time oranges.
The second half opened with Malton receiving the kick off and in the 43rd minute sweeping down to the visitor’s red zone but coughing up the ball watched in dismay as the Moortown backs raced unmolested to the other end for a try under the sticks and a 4 point lead.
An expletive laden call to arms was issued by the skipper and on 50 minutes Featherstone collected his second try not converted for a one point lead.
There followed an embarrassing try gifted to the visitors when Malton were awarded a penalty 30 metre out and before the skipper had opened his mouth it was quickly tapped and thrown forward for Moortown to gratefully gobble up and run fully sixty metres to dot down for another 7 points and the lead again 27-33.
Malton rang the changes on sixty minutes giving Emms a well-earned break and bringing on the second of the Gibbons brothers.
However the break did not last long as Malton lost the hard running Lockwood to an ankle injury.
The skipper Triffitt now took matter into his own hands and scored an unconverted try to narrow the gap to one point and give his team the impetus to complete the target set in the opening 20 minutes. Again Malton attempted to shoot themselves in the foot when Triffitt was sin binned with 16 minutes on the clock.
The front five now asserted themselves and winning some vital scrum penalties one of which was drilled over the crossbar by Bulmer gave warning that they weren’t finished despite being a man down.
A try was laid on for Lamb on 67 minutes duly converted and the icing on the cake was put in place with a try by Fothergill to give the team a well-earned, hard fought victory to set them up for their summer vacations.
With a surprise win for the seasiders over the woldsmen Malton finished 9th in the 14 team league and a comment from the coach that there were teams finishing above who were well within our sights.
It remains for me to thank our all our hard working committees, ground staff, bar staff, and Linda our physio especially who is an essential part of the squad and often unsung as she quietly goes about her business keeping the players where possible on the pitch. A mention also for the ad hoc club who ensure that the outside areas of the clubhouse are kept tidy and clean for Saturdays fixtures.
As to next season with the re organisation of the leagues please be patient and keep an eye on the club website for any forthcoming announcements.
Malton: Ali Fothergill, Jacob Stephenson, Sam Triffitt (c), Ed Lockwood, Joe Gibbons, James Bulmer, Paul Angus, Nick Salisbury, Bailey Lamb, Rob Featherstone, Will Dunn, Sean Emms, Jacob Head, Tom Lowry, Will Hughes.
Subs : Jon Richards, Will Gibbons, (both used).
Scorers: Dunn 1 try
Head 1 try
Stephenson 1 try
Featherstone 2 tries
Triffitt 1 try
Lamb 1 try
Fothergill 1 try
Bulmer 2cons 1pen
