James Knock
Bridlington has always been a tough venue and with the memory of Malton’s last visit in October 2022 when the hosts ran out winners with a 31 points margin the team talk will have been an interesting one.
An overcast sky and a pitch in good condition greeted the visitors who included Tom Ray in their 18 as listed in the match programme for his first appearance at 1st team level.
Malton were soon into their stride earning some early scrum penalties and were quick to move the ball both left and right testing the home backs. On six minutes Lowry darted in to open the scoring after sustained pressure by the Malton eight. 5-0
Bridlington’s reply was instantaneous with the first visit to their visitor’s 20 metre area proving fruitful when indifferent tackling saw the hosts score in the corner in the tenth minute. 5-5
Malton lost Foster with a knock to his shoulder and debutant Ray took his place for a short spell. On fifteen minutes Bridlington lost their no6 to a shoulder injury and Malton now seized the initiative moving into the Bridlington half and a period of sustained pressure moving the ball from side to side gave Upton the chance to dive spectacularly into the corner brushing the corner flag as he did so in minute 23. After a brief discussion with the home linesman whose flag was raised the referee awarded the try with Poole adding the extras. 12-5
On 36 minutes Malton opted to take a scrum penalty in front of the posts. A minute later another penalty coupled with a yellow card against a Bridlington prop saw Malton walk the Bridlington pack over the line for Triffitt to dot down for a seven pointer. 19-5
Bridlington now had a chance to score themselves in the 38th minute when they earned a penalty on the Malton 20 metre line but pushed the intended corner kick into the dead ball area and moments later Malton cleared their line on the stroke of half time.
With scrums still uncontested after the earlier Bridlington yellow card the home side retained possession and played the opening minutes of the half in Malton’s territory. On 48 minutes after a head injury Upton gave way to Ray for the remainder of the game.
Malton were looking lively but in a reversal of the discipline shown in the first half the old problem started to kick in as the penalty count mounted conceding position in the Bridlington red zone.
In the 53rd minute a wayward mistimed pass was easily picked off by a Bridlington speedster for a long distance interception try and rather than closing the angle for his kicker he slid in over the whitewash well to the right of the posts and the subsequent missed 2 points could prove expensive at the business end of the season in the lower reaches of the league table. 19-10
Bridlington now back in the game ran every scrap of possession from deep and some poor tackling saw them make easy metres on several occasions.
With the penalty count totting up the referee issued a team warning and Bulmer was the fall guy in the 62nd minute when Bridlington closed the gap with another 3 points. 19-13
The last 10 minutes saw Bridlington throw everything at the Malton line and some stout tackling kept them at bay. With 4 minutes left on the clock a penalty to Malton was needlessly slotted by Poole to bring to a close a scrappy and disjointed game 22-13 and thanks must go to the London based referee whose journey North had taken five and a half hours and one hopes he enjoyed officiating a Yorkshire derby game.
Next week the rearranged game at Goole is on the schedule and fingers crossed the weather is kinder this time round.
Malton: Nick Salisbury, John Vasconcelos, Ben Boothman, Jamie Rounthwaite, Will Dunn, Tom Lowry, Charlie Read, Sam Triffitt (c), Paul Angus, James Bulmer, Javan Upton, Archie Johnson, Blair Foster, Ali Fothergill, Shane Poole.
Subs: Pete Hopkins, Tom Ray (both used)
Eddie Browne (not used)
Scorers: Lowry 1 try
Upton 1 try
Triffitt 1 try
Poole 1 pen, 2 cons
