Beverley 2s 7 - 18 Malton and Norton 3s
Pat Lane
Excellent defensive effort sets up victory away from home
Malton and Norton 3s first appearance of the new year following a month off was a trip to Beverley to take on their second string. Despite some late cry offs the 3s travelled with 17 players and with a mix of youth and experience aimed to play a wide game to make use of the available pace on the outside. Malton started brightly but Beverley showed from the start that they would be no push over, Malton moved the ball well helped by some excellent runs from back row forwards Byron Marshall and Tom Barker. The forward battle was evenly contested throughout and credit to Joe Oliphant and John Ordidge who stepped in at the last minute to play prop, and after ten minutes it was Ordidge who opened the scoring with a try from a driving maul. For the next 20 minutes or so both sides defended well to prevent any further scores although Malton 10 Palliser got his backs moving at every opportunity and there were some fine breaks from Coulson and Collins in the centres, winger Biggins and Ben North from fullback. The stalemate was broken after 30 minutes when winger James Walker made a break from his own 22 and outpaced the Beverley cover to score a fine individual try. Just before half time Malton were awarded a penalty which was converted by Palliser to give Malton a 13-point lead.
With the wind behind them in the second half Malton started brightly and within five minutes the ever-present Ben Hickes fired one of his deadly arrows to a lineout 5m from the Beverley line, managed to collect it again and crashed over for a well-deserved try. At this stage it looked like Malton could run away with it but some tactical substitutions by Beverley and some indiscipline from the visitors allowed the home side to get a foothold. For the next 20 minutes Beverley camped in Maltons 22 but the visitors legendary defence from forwards and backs alike would not let them pass. Pack leader Phil North and his second-row partner Sam Megginson lead the defence, ably supported by Knaggs and his back row, the front row blessed trinity and new recruit Joe Tenge who replaced captain Collins in the centre and was keen to join the forward battle. Malton had a few nice breaks from their 22 and some excellent clearance kicks from Palliser and scrum half Midgley who also tackled like a back row all day. Finally, much to the relief of the visitors the final whistle came when Beverley infringed while camped on the Malton line, giving the visitors a very satisfying win.
This was a very entertaining game with both sides enjoying the outing and there was praise from the ref for the sporting nature of the game. There was a lot of positive work from Malton against tough opposition who had the benefit of being able to roll on plenty of subs, but this seemed to bolster the Malton side who again produced an excellent defensive display.
Next week we are on the road again to Goole which will be another tough encounter against an experienced outfit who narrowly beat us when they visited the Gannock earlier this season. There is the added attraction that bus transport will be provided, and we will be joined by the 2s who are also playing at Goole.
