Malton and Norton RUFC

MALTON SUCCUMB TO SELBY PACE

A perusal of the opening match reports of the season will have given the home coaching team sufficient warning of the pace and capabilities of the Selby back division which were demonstrated as early as the third minute.
Selby kicked off towards the football end and Malton minutes later were well inside the Selby half but conceded a scrum. With the resulting possession the visiting fly half chipped through and turning the Malton defence the second line of which was slow out of the blocks and positionally unprepared a simple 5 points for the visiting no13 was the result in the 3rd minute.
Selby on 7 minutes earned a yellow for a blatant knock forward with Malton on the attack and the quick tap penalty resulted in Salisbury being bundled over the whitewash for a 7 pointer.  From the kick off and resulting possession a telegraphed pass from a Malton winger without even notionally drawing and fixing his man was easily picked off by the Selby 9 to score under the uprights, 7-12.
The warning signs concerning the Selby backs were in plain view after only 10 minutes.
On the 15th minute mark Selby started to cough up a penalty or two and Malton’s shot at goal in the 21st minute was just wide of the mark. Malton at this stage of proceedings were enjoying a 75% territorial advantage but wild offloading and inaccuracy put paid to any additions to the scoreboard.
However in the 23rd minute following yet another wild offload Malton recovered sufficiently to see Barker scamper over for a 7 pointer to retake the lead 14-12.
In the 28th minute followed 5 minutes of pressure in the home red zone Featherstone was summoned for some defensive scrummaging but to no avail as Selby worked the ball to the clubhouse side and after several phases their no7 was driven over to give them the lead 14-17.
In the 36th minute following a transgression by Selby in the murky underworld of the front row another quick tap penalty resulted in completing Salisbury’s brace not converted but a 2 point lead for Malton at half time.
This was tempered by the sight of skipper Triffitt departing the field clutching his shoulder.

Selby received the kickoff and booted the ball down to the home half and within 3 minutes fed their winger who had plenty to do and he waltzed his way round some rather tepid Malton defence to score as good an individual try as you will see at this level for the visitors to take the lead 19-24 which was systematically and pragmatically added to over the next 12 minutes.
The visitors now upped their game at set piece and with their collective tails up dragged Malton into a series of misdemeanours punished by the whistle. They were not helped by the departure of acting captain Foan in the 47th minute which gave Poole the opportunity to add to his 10 minute cameo of last week and share the fly half duties with Bulmer.
But at this stage Selby were dominant and unforgiving in their approach adding 3 penalties on the trot in minutes, 49, 54, and 61 to leave Malton trailing in their wake 19-33 and visibly shaken.  Yet another sign of the lack of discipline was a yellow card waved at young Browne in the 60th minute for a one handed knock down which culminated in the conversion of the 3rd of the above mentioned penalties.
A good crowd got behind the home side sensing that 2 converted tries would secure a try bonus and the splitting of the league points on offer provided Selby were kept at bay. In the 66th minute the first objective was secured with Featherstone powering over and a well drilled conversion by Poole set up the chase for another score preferably near the posts.
Despite losing a man to the bin in the 75th minute Selby rubbed salt into Malton’s wounds with yet another interception try in the final minute and in all honesty the final tally of 26-40 was just reward for the superior outfit on the day.
A week for some introspection and reflection on a lot of self-inflicted errors and a priority of putting the lack of discipline to rights will go a long way to putting the squad back on track when they visit newcomers to the league Glossop who are 2nd bottom with a solitary losing bonus point to their name.

MALTON:   Nick Salisbury,  John Vasconcelos,  Liam Vaughan,  Sean Emms,  Charlie Read,  Thomas Barker,  Tom Lowry,  Sam Triffitt (c),  Paul Angus,  James Bulmer,  Eddie Browne,  Ed Lockwood,  Tom Foan,  Archie Johnson,  Blair Foster.

Subs:  (all used),  Rob Featherstone,  Will Dunn,  Shane Poole.

Scorers:
Salisbury   2 tries
Barker   1 try
Featherstone   1 try
Angus   1 con
Bulmer   1 con
Poole   1 con