Yorkshire Two

Northallerton 11 pts,

Malton and Norton 13 pts

Malton gained another two points to maintain their winning start to the season. Northallerton are not an easy side to beat at their sloping Brompton home so it is with some credit that Malton took the spoils.

Indeed, Malton should have put the result beyond doubt in the opening quarter. On two occasions, the three-quarters sliced open the home defence, but, when a try seemed certain, the final pass went astray or the wrong option was taken.

Will Barber gave Malton the lead with a penalty-kick. Despite being under severe pressure in the set piece, the Malton pack stuck doggedly to their task. It was fitting that the opening try came from the pack, when number eight, James McKay, broke free along the left touchline, brilliantly beating the home winger for both pace and guile to touch down and give Malton an 8-0 interval lead.

With the advantage of the slope, Malton should have made the running in the second period. Northallerton had other ideas and gained a good position in the Malton 22-metre area from which to launch their first real assault on the Malton line.

For once, the visitors' defence was breached and a try resulted. The conversion failed and Malton retained the lead. Malton kept plugging away and did not abandon their attacking style despite the negative tactics from the home side.

Reward came when some fine handling gave Ian Cooke the opportunity to open his account this season and put Malton eight points in front. Despite two late penalties for Northallerton, Malton held firm to the end to gain two valuable away points.

Overall, this was a good team performance from Malton but much credit must go to the front row of Carl Rushworth, Duncan Humphreys and Tom Piercy, who were under tremendous pressure throughout, but failed to buckle.

Duncan Foster and Andy Mitchell dominated the line-outs and Chris Creber and Tim Chapman were constant threats when in possession. Spirits are high, and after next week's Powergen Vase tie at Knaresborough, Malton have two consecutive home games against West Leeds and Ripon.

Coach Pat Stephenson said: "We did really well in the first half up the slope but it maybe led us into making a few casual mistakes in the second half, which was a lot tighter. We had plenty of chances to knock them out of sight but in the end we were pleased to hang onto the win. I can't fault the efforts of the forwards but we are very light and it could prove very difficult against some sides."

Updated: 09:54 Wednesday, September 18, 2002