CLOSE ENCOUNTER AT THE GANNOCK.
James Knock
Malton welcomed table toppers Ilkley on a perfect day for rugby with the showers dissipating, the sun peeping through the clouds and a medium breeze to set the scene on what proved to be an entertaining with a capital E contest.
Malton received the kick off at the town end of the pitch. The first fifteen minutes were all Ilkley with Malton absorbing constant pressure in their 22 metre zone. The first up tackling by all fifteen was exemplary and coupled with three or four excellent turnovers kept,to the visitor’s surprise a rampant Ilkley at bay.
On 15 minutes Malton paid their first visit to the visitors half but a dropped high ball on the stand side put paid to the position gained. A kick through from Fothergill on 20 minutes gave the hosts their first sight of the Ilkley 22 metre area and now Malton were in the game with some possession and territory but could not crack the visitor’s defence.
Malton now suffered the loss of skipper Triffitt to a head injury which necessitated a reorganisation of the back five, Hughes moving to no8 and Emms coming of the bench to lock the scrum.
Shortly afterwards Malton were back on defensive duties and on 30 minutes Ilkley relieved their frustrations with a 7 pointer from close range via their no7 and skipper Lowes. Now on the rampage again the visitors moved the ball from side to side and a score was only avoided when their midfielder threw a wild head high pass to the overlapping winger that landed in touch. From the resulting line out Malton drove up the pitch only for one of their props to be efficiently stripped of the ball which was then rapidly moved to the speedy winger Harrison on the other touch line who raced to the line for another 7 points to bring the half time score to 14-0 in Ilkley’s favour.
Malton’s defence in this opening half bore all the hallmarks of either a Sinfield or Edwards blueprint, take your pick, with estimated stats of 90% territory and 75% possession in the visitor’s favour.
Malton opened the second half with a deep kick off and were soon in the Ilkley red zone earning a penalty five metres out. Featherstone taking a quick tap was stopped just short and from the resulting loose scrum Malton lost possession. Ilkley’s relieving kick missed touch and was swiftly carried back by Fothergill but the 5 th pass from the resulting interplay was put down.
Malton were now giving Ilkley a taste of their own medicine and constant pressure earned a penalty wisely converted to put points on the board in the 51st minute. At the same time Rounthwaite gave way to Read which freshened up the shoving department at scrum time.
Three minutes later a Bulmer chip through into space earned a penalty and a yellow card against the visitors when a cynical body check impeded his follow up. Malton chose to take a penalty scrum and with a further penalty in hand Hughes lost no time in crashing over for 7 points. Minutes later Malton brought on their remaining sub Barker with Barrat giving way.
The possession and territory stats were completely reversed in the opening 20 minutes of this half with Malton earning 70% of both.
Entering the final 15 minutes of the game Malton had successive scrums and spread the ball wide for Lockwood to truck it up and invite two tacklers to bring him down and with a good offload created the space for Fothergill who had run a clever angle from fullback to score wide out for 5 points only and a narrow lead 15-14 on 66 minutes.
Ilkley now showed their class pulling their collective chestnuts out of the fire on 70 minutes when they used some rare possession to put midfielder Dobson in with a show and dummy to his unmarked winger for 5 points and the lead 19-15.
Malton had one or two chances in the final 10 minutes but tiredness and a little bit of inaccuracy resulted in them going begging.
With Malton once again pressing in the Ilkley 20 metre area the relief from the Ilkley players and supporters was palpable as the final whistle was blown. Next week the team would welcome your support at 3rd placed Cleckheaton whose form recently has been variable and after two good performances our boys are capable of causing an upset.
Malton: Ali Fothergill, Caleb Barrat, Ed Lockwood, Tom Foan, Will Bell, James Bulmer, Josh Weatherill, Nick Salisbury, Bailey Lamb, Rob Featherstone, Will Hughes, Jamie Rounthwaite, Jacob Head, Tom Lowry, Sam Triffitt (c).
Scorers: Hughes 1 try
Fothergill 1 try
Bulmer 1 pen 1 con.
