MALTON LACK ACCURACY
James KnockThe comments from the gathering crowd at the Gannock were mostly that Cleckheaton had brought 13 burly forwards and only 5 backs, and gave an indication of how they thought afternoon would pan out.
The visitors kicked off and Malton swept down to their red zone immediately but gave up the ball and it was returned with interest a passing move out of Cleckheaton’s half and an accurate kick ahead for the winger to chase coupled with a good bounce gave the visitors an opening score well converted from the touch line on 3 minutes.
At the same time Malton lost their skipper Triffitt to a head assessment with Emms coming on into the 2nd row, Hughes moving to no8 and Dunn to 6.
Cleckheaton attacked from the restart and their influential fly half with a clever accurate kick pass set up the winger again but Malton’s scrambled defence was in place to deny him but gave up a penalty for holding on to him after the tackle. The visitors failed to take advantage and Malton regathered.
From halfway Poole set up Fothergill who picking up a pass off his toes made good ground and was tackled but laid back good ball for Angus to complete the attack, fooling would be tacklers to score wide out for 5 points only on 15 minutes.
The low point of this encounter came when the referee dealt with a scuffle which from the touch line appeared a minor one by brandishing 2 red cards one for each team, Malton losing try scorer Angus to the shower room!
It must be noted that our opponents had demonstrated their abrasive qualities off the ball when Foan moments earlier having completed a tackle was deliberately knocked back to the ground by a hefty front row forward unseen by the referee.
Play resumed and Malton were guilty of leaks in midfield as the visitors scored an easy 7 pointer after another accurate kick into space by their no10 in the 25 minute.
Ten minutes later another well placed kick to the corner by the above bounced into touch 5 metres from the whitewash and winning the line out the resulting rolling maul brought Cleckheaton another 5 points and a half time score of 19 points to 5.The half time team talk had a positive effect as Malton came out fighting (not literally) and started to front up to the bullying tactics of the opposition and indeed take the game to them Fothergill leading the way with two runs setting up a penalty opportunity taken by Poole on 43 minutes.
On 45 minutes an offence off the ball and a warning from the referee resulted in another 3 points from the boot of Poole. Malton back in the game at 19-11. But 2 minutes later Malton strayed offside and gave up 3 easy points to make the task harder again but not impossible.
In the 53rd minute Cleckheaton received a yellow card for ill discipline and from a penalty scrum the Malton shove went unrewarded. A second penalty again ended with no score, and continuing to ignore the in range sticks on the 3rd scrum Cleckheaton countered the Malton power and a move up the touch line by the hosts ended up in touch with the visitors off the hook.
A 10 minute period with an extra man and the visitors on the rack thus resulted in no points. Cleckheaton at this stage were struggling with their discipline and interaction with the referee and Malton failed to capitalise.
On 62 minutes the hosts at last manufactured a try for Hughes to make it 22-16 and set about finding the necessary 7 points but even with another well earned Cleckheaton yellow it was not to be and an unsatisfactory afternoon from a Malton perspective came to a close with just the one league point garnered.
Next week at league leaders Driffield who drew with us 26 points apiece in early September will be a testing encounter for the squad before the Christmas and New Year break.Malton: Ali Fothergill, Jacob Stephenson, James Bulmer, Tom Foan, Jacob Tweddle, Shane Poole, Paul Angus, Nick Salisbury, Bailey Lamb, Rob Featherstone, Charlie Read, Will Dunn, Will Hughes, Tom Lowry, Sam Triffitt (c).Subs: Ted Hughes, Shaun Emms, Ed Lockwood, (all used).Scorers: Angus 1 try. W.Hughes 1 try. Poole 2 pens.
