Malton and Norton 3s 24 – Beverley 2s 32
Pat Lane
Narrow defeat to experienced Beverley side.
On a sunny afternoon at The Gannock Malton and Beverley served up an entertaining competitive match. Beverley 2s equipped with a big pack aimed to dominate the home side and with a strong offloading game and strong running backs who moved the ball wide to their speedy young outside backs. In the first five minutes after another sweeping backs movement the visitors opened the scoring with a well finished try in the corner. Malton were not deterred and were securing their own ball in the scrum despite the pressure on the front rows, the home side made some good carries through Harry Scaife, Ryan Donaghy and Kev Smith and Malton half backs Jordan Smith and Tench took on the Beverley defence, captain Collins as ever lead from the front making several breaks. Some great defence from Malton kept repelling the Beverley attacks but sheer numbers allowed the visitors to claim their second try after 20 minutes, again out wide, this was backed up with an excellent conversion from their outhalf who had a fine game. Malton were not out of it and started to make some holes in the visitors defence through their own quick backs including young Ben North and the ever-reliable Matt Midgley at fullback, this pressure paid off when speedy winger Connor Biggins got Maltons first score with a well taken try in the corner after a half an hour of play. Both packs were battling for every ball and Brad Spiller at hooker was having an excellent game. In the dying minutes of the first half Beverley worked their way in to the Malton 22 and drove over for their third try.
Despite the 12 points deficit Malton were playing well and knew they were still in this game, playing up hill in the second half they started brightly especially in the forwards where they started to dominate the set piece and made yards against the strong visitors defence. Jordan Smith at scrum half was probing for every opportunity and was rewarded with a well taken try from a quick tap and go penalty. Martin Watson had a fine game in the front row as did the back row of academy player Henry Cornforth and Byron Marshall John Ordidge, George Turnbull replaced Ordidge for the final quarter of the game. Beverley then broke from their own 22 and against the run of play scored another try to extend their lead but typical Malton came straight back at them and Dan Marshall back from injury, showed his pace by scoring a try in the corner, this time without doing any damage to himself, he nearly repeated his efforts but was hauled down just before the try line. Malton knew they were back in this game but still 12 points adrift, captain Collins asked his players to up the effort again and he himself picked a lose ball on the Beverley 22 and broke through for Maltons fourth try of the afternoon, which was converted to leave a five-point lead to Beverley. For the final 10 minutes Beverley tried to increase their lead but were continually held up by an excellent defence. The Malton lineout was also dominant, and Turnbull stole some great lineouts to frustrate the visitors. With Beverley still pressing they were awarded a penalty inside the Malton 22 and decided to take the three points rather than attempting to run it which emphasised how good Maltons defence was. The successful kick restored an eight-point advantage in the dying minutes and Beverley held out for victory. Credit to both sides for providing an excellent game played in the proper spirit. Malton 3s next fixture on 4th March will be a tough test away to Pocklington, however with the same effort they know they are a match for any time in this league.
