Yorkshire Two. Ripon 10 pts Malton and Norton 7 pts

Having been on the wrong end of a 50-point defeat from Malton and Norton earlier in the season, Ripon were desperate to gain revenge over their North Yorkshire rivals.

From the start, they played with a commitment and plan designed to disrupt the Gannock side's pattern of play. The early pressure was all applied by Ripon. The visitors found great difficulty in getting out of their own 22-metre area as the fired-up Ripon pack turned over possession on far too many occasions for comfort.

On the few times they did manage to break free, the Malton backs looked dangerous. Pat Stephenson's men deserve credit for the manner in which they defended for a full 30 minutes with some very good tackling before Ripon took the lead with a penalty for an infringement at a ruck.

The home side quickly put Malton under the cosh again but the visitors seemed to have broken free with a break from defence when a chip ahead was unluckily charged down. The Ripon right wing accepted the chance to outpace the defence to touch down under the posts. The successful conversion gave his side a ten-point half-time lead.

With the breeze at their backs, Malton hoped to extinguish the Ripon fire and stamp their own authority on the game in the second half. To some extent, they succeeded but, as in the first half, Ripon's spoiling tactics proved too much for the visitors to contend with.

Duncan Foster and Richard Webster held sway in the line-outs to provide some good possession but Malton did not possess the penetrative qualities to break through a tight home defence, despite some bullocking runs from Andy Whalley at inside centre.

A glimmer of hope shone through when scrum half Jon Newsome spotted a gap from a ruck 20 metres out and raced over for an excellent opportunist try. Ian Cooke converted to narrow the gap to just three points.

With ten minutes remaining, and Ripon legs getting ever wearier, Malton picked up the pace and set up camp in the Ripon 22-area. However, this time it was Ripon's defence which held the upper hand and it was a relieved but delighted home outfit who celebrated the final whistle.

Coach Stephenson said: "I'm very disappointed to lose. While it's always difficult to win at Ripon, we had a lot of pressure in the second half but only had seven points to show for it. We gifted them their points and this league's too tight to be able to do that and get away with it. We've got two or three really hard games coming up and losing to Ripon was not really in the plan."

He added that teams in Yorkshire Two were perhaps working out how to stifle Malton's attacking play from the backs.

"We've played everyone once now and maybe teams are working out how best to play against us, making it into a very forward-orientated game."

All is not lost for Malton and Norton in their promotion challenge. The commitment and desire is there and, provided they can overcome a lack of bulk in the pack, they will be in the shake-up at the end of the season.

They are still in third place with a game in hand over their rivals and with 'four-pointers' against West Leeds this week and West Park Bramhope to come the week after.

For this Saturday's visit to West Leeds - who are level on points with Malton and the only side to beat them at The Gannock this season - Stephenson must check on the fitness of a few players. Phil Ryan and Andy Whalley are rated as doubtful.

Updated: 10:39 Wednesday, February 05, 2003