Otliensiens 17 pts

Malton and Norton 7 pts

Malton's promotion hopes took another dive at fellow contenders Otliensiens. Despite having the lion share of possession and territorial advantage for most of the game, Malton failed to capitalize and were punished on the few occasions the hosts threatened.

After 15 minutes, Otliensiens breached the Malton defence to open the scoring with a good try. Far too often, Malton gave away possession with poor retention. The Malton threequarters looked dangerous in spells but were unable to break down a solid defence to get the breakthrough. The next score came from the home side when a Malton forward was penalised for being offside at a ruck.

The visitors had two opportunities to narrow the deficit before the break but spurned the chances, electing to take tap penalties rather than take the points on offer.

The second half closely resembled the first, with Malton holding territorial advantage but being constantly driven back by a more committed home side, who used the boots of a very capable fly half and full back to keep trouble at bay.

With their only attacking position of the half, Otliensiens were awarded a five-metre scrummage and drove forward. The referee caused some confusion by indicating a penalty against Malton and calling 'free ball'. Both packs broke up and, to the astonishment of all around, a penalty try was awarded against Malton for breaking up while the ball was still in the scrum. Malton now had a mountain to climb.

They got back into the game when flanker James McKay picked up from a scrum to force his way over. Andy Newsome converted and with twenty minutes still to play Malton were looking the stronger. In one move, they were about to recycle the ball, with a clear overlap emerging, when the whistle went for a penalty to Malton for an offside offence which did not interfere with play. After an exchange of words between Newsome and the referee, Malton were reduced to 14 men for the final 15 minutes as Newsome was given his marching orders. A man down, the comeback proved too difficult for Malton.

With scheduled opponents Pocklington playing a rearranged league game against Scarborough, Malton are hoping to entertain a Wharfedale XV.

Updated: 10:28 Thursday, December 13, 2001