MIGHTY 3s MARCH ON!!!
Stu Collins
Malton and Norton 3s welcomed Bridlington 2s to the Gannock on a perfect day for a game of rugby.
Bridlington arrived lacking a few players which helped Malton’s caretaker manager with his task of picking a starting 15 from a fantastic turnout of 26 players!!
With both front rows coming from Malton and Norton, the scrums were a competitive affair, with rumours amongst the crowd that Brid had the stronger pack! An argument that will surely rumble on!
However, it was Malton that started the game fast and hard with a strong break from centre Harry Coulson giving a pop inside to Matt Midgley who dived over the line to open the scoring.
Malton’s 2nd try came from good forward play, Lummers driving the ball forward, setting up quick ball for the backs, James Wood pulling the strings and moving the ball wide through the hands of Nathan Chapman and co, to allow Finn Tumman to score in the corner.
Malton continued to pile on the pressure and went from strength to strength throughout the first half, with further tries coming from Caleb Barrett, Matt Midgley and Finn Tumman.
Although the scrums continued to be a tight contest, the Malton forwards dominated in the Lineout, rucks, mauls, and open play. Harry Skaife, Josh Watson and John Ordidge all full of running, working tirelessly throughout the 1st half, James Machin and Phil North leading from the front and Adam Leckonby again putting in a great front row performance.
Malton, still hungry for more with Hooker Ben Hickes taking the ball in again, allowing the forwards to set good ball once more, releasing the backs through a good break from Wood leaving the Brid defence standing to feed inside to the excellent Caleb Barrett to score his 2nd try of the match, which he duly converted.
With 2nd half approaching, Malton still went on the hunt for more, Finn Tumman completing his 1st half hattrick with a great solo run down the win to score directly under the posts. However, the attempted drop kick that followed can only be described as the worst attempt ever to be seen at the Gannock, teammate Jack Knaggs offering to show him how it’s done!
A couple of good conversions from Joe Marucci meant that Malton went into half time with a lead of 41 – 0 and the game as a contest was over.
The second half brought some personal changes, Malton swapping over the front rows bringing the powerful front 3 of Tom Milton Wright, Nick Wilkes, and Luke Humphreys back into red and black, and the lively Oisin O Shea onto the wing.
Further changes saw the introduction of Jake Newsome, Will Kemp and James Mckell all having a great impact from the bench, Malton continued to dominate the game with tries from Harry Coulson, Jake Newsome and man of the match Calab Barrett completing his hattrick.
Jack Knaggs converted 3 of the resulting kicks giving Malton an overall victory of 67 points to nil.
Credit must go to Bridlington 2s for making the trip to Malton, allowing the game to happen, and playing in the true spirit of the game. Shout out to the Malton pair of Vince Thatcher and Luke Cowton AKA Jake Paul, for not only playing nearly 80 mins for Brid, but also putting in a good shift.
Once again another great turn out from Malton 3s, which must continue into an away day trip to Withernsea next week!
.
