East Yorkshire RFU Mini Rugby Tournament

(at Malton and Norton RUFC)

Malton and Norton under-9s

Malton and Norton under-9 A team steamed through the East Yorkshire Tournament in fiery form, winning all three of their pool games.

They beat Hull/Beverley 2-0, with both tries by Rachel Lund, followed by a 6-0 win over Scarborough, with tries by Rachel Lund, Rob Stephenson, James Bulmer and three from William Witty. Pocklington were then beaten 3-0, thanks to tries from James Bulmer, William Witty and Rachel Lund.

In the semi-final, Ionians scored one try but Malton replied with tries from Paul Sykes and James Bulmer to set up a final with Driffield. Relentless Malton pressure resulted in tries for Rob Stephenson and William Witty to clinch the cup.

Daniel Boddy, Thomas Lowry, Sam Wainwright, Toby Barron and Alex Morley-Atkins all contributed solidly throughout the tournament.

Malton A scored 15 tries overall and conceded just one - a glowing testament to their commitment, and ability, which saw skipper Toby Barron proudly hoist the cup for Malton.

Malton under-9 B gave enthusiastic performances but failed to progress to the semis.

Malton and Norton (Maggots) under-7s

The Maggots defeated Goole in an exciting 6-2 match and Hessle were similarly dispatched with a 4-1 victory. Driffield A were made of stronger stuff and held the Maggots to a 4-4 draw. A combination of strong running and good defensive tagging saw off a late challenge from Hull Ionians A to leave the Maggots playing Hull/Beverley in the final.

Hull opened the tally with two tries made from fine individual jinking runs. But determined teamwork from Malton proved crucial. The Maggots pulled back the lead but, at full-time, the game was level at 3-3 and had to be settled by a golden try in extra-time.

Wave after wave of attacking play, with fine support to the ball-carrier, eventually saw Tom Everitt touch down to secure the cup for Malton's mighty Maggots.

Notable throughout the day for their determined try-scoring runs were Tom Everitt (10), Nicholas Foxley (7), Toby Latham (2), Alistair Mitchell (2) and James Fawcett, whilst Charlie Hill, Hamish Evans, Charlie Prest, Jonathan Read, and George Wainwright held the field with magnificent displays of defensive tagging.

Malton and Norton under-11s

In their first match, Malton showed exceptional teamwork against a combined Hull/Beverley team. A strong scrum of Rowan Dodsworth, Andrew Arden, Thomas Brader, together with second row Charles Gallagher and Cole Goodchild, provided plenty of ball so that tries came thick and fast from George Harrison (2), Timmy Hunt (2), Philip Hughes (2), Joe Robinson and Freddie Potrykus. Joe converted five out of eight to make it 53-0.

The second match was a much sterner test against Goole but Malton scored before half-time, with Timmy Hunt going over after a long run. Joe Robinson put in a number of telling tackles and scored himself early in the second half. Cameron Baron weaved his way through the opposition to score the third and give Malton a 15- 0 win.

In the semi-final, Malton met Driffield, who they have already beaten twice this season. The match was highly competitive and every member of the team, from relative newcomers Charles Gallagher, Jack Haworth and Harrison Gray-Smith, to long-serving members such as Brodie Turnbull and Henry Stockley, played their hearts out throughout. At full time there was no score, so extra-time was played but there was still no score. Under the rules, the game was decided by the toss of a coin which, unfortunately for Malton, went in favour of Driffield. Malton and Norton boys had played like lions, scoring 68 points and conceding none.

Malton and Norton under-12s

The Malton and Norton under-12s put up a tremendous effort to qualify for the knockout phases only to narrowly lose in the semi-final.They were first up against eventual winners Driffield, who scored four converted tries without reply. Weak defence was Malton's downfall but they put this right against Hessle, scoring two tries without reply. Malton took the lead by putting pressure on a Hessle line-out close to their try-line, forcing a fumbled mistake which allowed Sam Harrison to pounce on the loose ball to score. Malton's second try was a cracker - Tom Francis stole the ball from Hessle in a fiercely-contested maul before feeding fly-half Gareth Hunt, who linked with centres Kit Wilson and Will Prest. Prest shimmied to break inside, and was well supported by Lawrence Keyworth, who drove over to score. Josh Evans converted both tries.

The semi-final against Hull Ionians set off at a great pace, with Malton dictating. They leapt ahead with two tries after Tom Francis crashed over from a short penalty and then started an unstoppable rolling drive, which William Monkman finished off.

A missed conversion proved a deciding factor as Ionians replied with two tries. On both occasions, Malton failed to clear their lines and good pressure by Ionians caused errors which led to their converted tries. A 14-12 defeat was the narrowest of margins, but Malton were worthy participants in a keenly-contested tournament which delighted the spectators.

Malton and Norton under-10s

The under-10s went out at the round-robin stage in a group which provided the two tournament finalists, Hull Ionians and Pocklington.

Determined tackling against Pocklington held the visitors to a single score until the dying seconds of the match. Against

Ionians, the tournament winners, Malton stuck to their task, with

Ellie Raines and George Everitt making text-book tackles against much bigger opponents, who ran out 3-0 winners. Malton finally scored against Scarborough with a penetrating run from George Everitt, who was unlucky not to score on a number of occasions.

Malton had the ball over the try line but were unable to ground the ball for a second try which would have given them a well-deserved draw as Malton lost 2-1.

Malton and Norton

(Worms) under-6s

Unfortunately, the Worms could not win through to the final after coming up against some tough teams but put in excellent performances against teams a year older than themselves to finish third in their group.

Updated: 12:24 Wednesday, November 19, 2003