John Machin
Incessant rain greeted the teams on a lush Malton pitch which is a credit to Groundsman, Bob Woodhouse and his volunteer helpers.
Malton kicked off towards the Malton end. Wetherby worked their way into the Malton half. They retained possession and moved the ball quickly to the left but good Malton defence kept them out. After further Wetherby pressure Malton cleared their lines when Wetherby conceded a penalty for holding on. Malton then conceded a penalty for the same offence. Wetherby went for goal but the kick went wide.
On 15 minutes Tom Lowry suffered an injury when an accidental boot caught him just above the chin and the resultant deep cut prevented him from taking any further part in the game. An unfortunate injury to a key player following on from the 4 players injured the previous week, none of them able to play today. Lowry was replaced by John Vasconcelos who moved into the front row and Josh Raines moved to flanker.
At the next scrum Malton were shunted back and conceded a penalty. This enabled Wetherby to exert pressure in the Malton 22. A clever chip by their fly half flatfooted the Malton defence enabling a touchdown and the full back added the conversion to give Wetherby a 7 point lead. From the kick off Malton then exerted pressure in the visitors’ 22 but a knock on by Malton enabled Wetherby to clear their lines. Malton then established an attacking position in the Wetherby half. On 33 minutes Wetherby conceded a penalty which Paul Angus converted to make the score 3-7. It was then Wetherby’s turn to attack and they threatened down the left before knocking on. The 1st half ended with the score 3-7. Malton had done well to contain the lively visitors to this score as they had enjoyed most of the possession and territory.
Wetherby again applied pressure at the start of the 2nd half. Another clever chip resulted in Matthew Jefferson doing well to prevent a try but he carried the ball over the try line and the referee awarded a 5 metre scrum. Good Malton defence led to a Wetherby knock on and Malton cleared their lines. Soon afterwards a good attack down the left wing by the visitors almost resulted in a try but desperate Malton defence saw the winger bundled into touch. Malton won the resultant lineout and relieved the pressure. The wet conditions led to a lot of kicking by both sides but Malton kicked poorly and invariably found the Wetherby captain and full back whose kicking and general play was excellent. He caught one poor clearance, beat two defenders and linked with his right winger who scored in the corner. The conversion was missed leaving the score at 3-12.
Bill Collier took a knock and went off and was replaced by Tom Ray. By this time Archie Armitage had replaced Nick Salisbury in the front row. Malton now got back into the game and had their best spell. They won a penalty about 40 metres out. The wet conditions did not help as Paul Angus scuffed his kick which was short and wide. Malton continued to apply pressure and the visitors conceded a number of penalties. They were given a warning and a further penalty led to a yellow card for one of their centres. A man light, Malton applied further pressure on the Wetherby line resulting in a try by the pack with John Vasconcelos getting the touchdown. Paul Angus added the conversion and Malton were back in it at 10-12.
With their tails up Malton applied further pressure and good retention by the forwards led to a penalty which would have put them into the lead for the first time in the game. Unfortunately Paul Angus again scuffed his kick and missed.
In the closing stages the Wetherby centre returned to the fray and they reimposed their superiority. They worked their way into the Malton half and a break by their openside wing forward saw him score and fullback Yates added the conversion. Shortly afterwards the final whistle sounded with Wetherby victorious 10-19.
A disappointing day for Malton. After being outplayed in the 1st half they came back well in the 2nd half and were a tad unfortunate not to earn a losing bonus point. Sam Triffitt was in the thick of everything with his usual committed display. Will Dunn and Charlie Ray secured good lineout ball given the conditions. Jack Redshaw, a member of our very successful Colts team, gave an assured performance when drafted in as a late replacement for our injured fly half and played the entire game.
Next Saturday we are away to Morley in the Yorkshire Cup ko 3pm.
MALTON & NORTON: Hopkins, Raines, Salisbury, Reed, Dunn (c), Lowry, C Ray, Triffitt, Hoggard, Redshaw, Collier,Browne, Lockwood, Jefferson, Angus.
BENCH (all used) Armitage, T Ray, Vasconcelos.
