Malton and Norton RUFC

FOUR  LEAGUE  POINTS  GO  BEGGING.

Morley's pitch unplayable last week had staged a remarkable recovery during the week to provide a good surface with just the odd sticky patch to contend with.
The Gannock outfit showed up with a side shorn of two regular back rowers, skipper Sam Triffitt and able deputy skipper from the Driffield game Matt Bowman and also late withdrawal Ali Fothergill. Nick Embleton and fellow winger Harry Coulson were promoted from the 2nds with the inevitable shuffling in the backs.
This was always a blank weekend in the fixture list and some players had made alternative plans with Twickenham high on the list. It nearly became a blank league points week.
A gale force wind blew end to end and slightly across the 22 metre zones not sheltered by the substantial stand at Scatcherd Lane. Morley kicked off with the wind, the ball going dead resulting in a Malton put in on the half way spot. From this Jack Hobbs at no8 drove up the blind side and after a series of pick up and drives by the pack Malton were camped on the Morley line. The eight were in complete control and patience was required to claim a try but a knock forward on the line gave Morley advantage and a big wind assisted clearance kick in what would prove to be an expensive missed opportunity by Malton.
On 10 minutes a long kick to Malton's 22 metre zone from a penalty put Morley in the driving seat and the inevitable score came from a driven line out catch with the no5 storming over for a 7 pointer on 13 minutes.
Malton now played a large part of the next 30 minutes in their own half but good line speed and resolute tackling kept Morley out until on 35 minutes a quickly taken tap penalty 30 metres out caught Malton on the hop and the speedy no14 rounded his man and cut in to help the successful conversion.
14-0 up at half time and Morley with the wind and plenty of ball should have expected more points but Malton had done well to contain them .
Not being privy to the half time talk from the coach what unfolded in the 2nd half added up to a certain amount of naivety and lack off direction from acting skipper Sean Emms and as coach Creber mentioned at close of play too many wrong options taken.
Malton opened the half with a good kick to the Morley corner, gained a penalty and two phases later a push over with a couple of backs adding weight with Tom Barker claiming 5 points only on 45 minutes.
There followed what looked from the stand like a catalogue of poorly controlled line kicking, poor decision making, and a failure to mix the tactics especially when the forwards had shown parity at breakdown with Jack Hobbs leading the charges from no8. Morley's contribution was also noteworthy with some strong tackling and forward drives ball in hand against the wind.
On 72 minutes a visit to Morley's line saw at last a well constructed try for Will Bell at full stretch with an emphatic one handed dot down for a 7 pointer, giving Malton a minimum of one league point and 8 minutes to go for the jugular.
It was not to be and Morley were worthy winners having judged the strong wind on their home patch to perfection apart from the opening kickoff and their defensive tackling earned their 4 league points.
Next week POCKLINGTON at home and a large crowd expected to cheer the boys on to what would be a 9th home win and a game nearer the safety zone league wise.
SEE YOU THERE!

Malton:  Tom Hoggard,  Nick Embleton,  Will Bell,  Ben Tenge,  Harry Coulson,  James Bulmer,  Paul Angus,  Nick Salisbury,  Bailey Lamb,  Rob Featherstone,  Sean Emms (c),  Charlie Read,  Tom Lowry,  Tom Barker,  Jack Hobbs.

Subs: all used.  Ted Hughes,  Tom Hume,  J.P. Giorgi Cabral.

Scorers:   Tom Barker 1try,  Will Bell 1try,  James Bulmer 1con.