Malton and Norton RUFC

The two hours plus journey to Hipperholme in the uplands of Halifax is hardly ideal preparation for an encounter with high flying joint second Brods.
Malton winning the toss chose to play into the sun up the well documented hillside with the idea that if Brods were contained to a minimal first half advantage then coming down the slope in the second half would pay dividends. In theory a cunning plan but 0-33 at halftime was a mountain too high to climb.

Brods came out of the traps like downhill skiers and a mere 90 seconds elapsed before their first try.  0-5
Malton’s response was instantaneous as they drove up to the home red zone but an offside decision put paid to any possible score. Brods in reply with plenty of ball used their quick heavy runners with their no8 in the vanguard to sweep back down the hill and from a line out 30 metres out a called set move saw the home no12 cut a line close to the tail of the line out and unmolested he cruised to the whitewash in the 10th minute.  0-12
Malton under severe pressure at both forms of set piece were starved of ball and put on constant defensive duties. In the 15th minute a long kick through from the home team was well picked up by Bell who brought the ball forward 20 metres but isolated he was an easy target for the jackals and Brods were back at the business end to take the score to 0-19.

Malton were looking shell shocked at this point and poor tackling made it look easy for the home team as with sheer pace and support on the shoulder they collected another try and a bonus point running out of their own half to bring the score to 0-26 in minute 22.
Brods looked the better drilled outfit in all departments and with 5 wins out of six games so far the confidence factor undoubtedly had a bearing on proceedings.
In the 25th minute the visitors suffered the indignity of being shoved off their own scrum feed and again a home midfielder waltzed through untouched.  0-33
Malton to their credit stemmed the tide for the next 15 minutes and looked to use the slope advantage in the second half.

All three subs were now deployed by Malton at halftime and the effect was instantaneous as veteran Vaughan led the way and in the 43rd minute Bulmer sold a dummy before crossing the line to open his team’s account.  7-33
The West Riding outfit weren’t long in replying and after 5 minutes of pressure a kind bounce from a well-placed grubber kick gave them another 7 points.  7-40

Malton did not help themselves as a relieving penalty kick failed to find touch as the minutes ticked away. In the 63rd minute Malton’s winger in only his 8th senior outing cut inside instead of pinning back his ears and heading for the corner. He will put that behind him as his confidence grows during the season. Two minutes later Bulmer fed Stephenson who in turn smartly stepped the defence and Lowry was on hand to take the offload and skip over the lime wash.  14-40
In the 70th minute Brods back in the visitor’s red zone threw out a long overhead pass for the recipient to cross wide out for 5 only and complete their score line for the afternoon and in effect seal the deal.  14-45
Malton now started the quest for something to take home and in the 73rd minute Collier a rapid runner and learner made no mistake scoring in the corner.  19-45

Five minutes on the two blue scrum caps of Vaughan and Triffitt were prominent in a burst for the line with Malton’s skipper deservedly claiming the try and bonus point for his side who had persevered to the end of the game and kept their heads up in what had seemed a lost cause.  24-45
A tough day at the coal face but one or two positives to chew over on the long trip home for a Malton side who just need a win to kick-start the remainder of the season already a third completed league wise, and head for the top half of the table.
Next week is a break for the first autumn international at Twickenham with the squad back in action on November 9th at Moortown for a 2.15 pm kick off.

MALTON:   Nick Salisbury,  John Vasconcelos,  Peter Hopkins,  Will Dunn,  Henry Cornforth,  Tom Lowry,  Olly Owuor,  Sam Triffitt (c),  Paul Angus,  Shane Poole,  Bill Collier,  Will Bell,  Jacob Stephenson,  Archie Johnson,  Ali Fothergill.

Subs: all used.   Liam Vaughan, James Bulmer, Charlie Reed.

Scorers:   Bulmer   1 try  2 cons
                  Lowry   1 try
                  Collier   1 try
                  Triffitt   1 try