Solid display sees the Two’s bag a bonus point
Chris Hopkins
BP ventured to the Gannock with hopes of securing victory, fuelled by a prior triumph where BP's men scored 60 points against Malton.
However, the determined red and black super 2's of Malton had different plans in this rugby showdown. Fielding yet another changed team with Tom Ray stepping up to play 10 and Harry Owston running out for his second game at 9, the coaching team had every confidence in the men they had selected to take BP to task but with having lost the previous week against Pock, it was down to the Malton men to rediscover their form.
Malton started from the off, showing their intent with the forwards showing they meant business the possession was one sided our pack moving BP around the field changing the point of attack but the backs just couldn’t convert until, following a nice line with Connor coming off his wing into the line on the 25th minute, the ball found its way through the hands to Clarky hitting the right wing at pace to go under the post.
Following a successful conversion, the 2s kept the momentum going with the forwards offering a solid platform from set piece to give the backs further opportunities but the Malton lateral attack made it easy for BP to keep themselves in the game.
Malton’s pack maintained their dominance and following some aggressive phase play, Malton soon found their way back over the white wash with Tom powering over the line to make it 12-0 BP made some interchanges which seemed to offer a lift for them as they found some form in the last 10 however Malton's blitz defence and line speed from the forwards with Knaggs, Speedy and Tom T along with some big hits in particular from Charlie Tindall in the centres, kept BP at bay.
Malton would go into the 2nd half with the lead but with the game still in the balance, the coaching team brought on fresh legs both upfront and in the backs to build on a dominant 1st half With BP taking the half time to regroup, they found another level utilising their kick to try to gain territory as they hadn’t penetrated Malton 22 in the first half. Again the big Malton 8 were up to the challenge and held them with BP gaining unable to gain any line breaks however 15 mins into the 2nd half a cheeky scrumhalf chip by the BP 9 saw their winger knock Adam T in the chase off the ball to score what deemed to be a contentious try. The conversion to follow was missed Lummers is known for his calm demeanour, but dry January had taken its toll so following a quiet word under the sticks the super 2s started to build the momentum they had in the 1st.
The backs started to click with J Upton jinking round the BP big centres with Connor B and Captain Clarky not far from the action in support. Intense pressure by the Malton pack started to pay dividends deep into the BP 22 with some nice interplay with Lewis and Pete barrelling through a fatigued BP team supported by a rampant back row along with Rory & Meggo offering themselves through the phases .
Now in full control, the forwards upped the tempo and some quick ball to Tom R allowed him to run through a huge gap in the now depleted BP defense to score his second With 10 mins on the clock, Malton were looking for the bonus point that finally came from the back of the 80 min efforts of the Malton pack with a training ground run that saw the ball go through the backs with ease to allow Adam T to score in the corner clinching the bonus point Malton 26 - BP 5
