MALTON & Norton will battle for the Colts Yorkshire Cup for the third consecutive season later this month.

The Ryedale outfit will take on West Park, Leeds, in the Under 18s final at Doncaster on Sunday, April 28 (2:45pm).

Malton have contested in both the Under 16s and Under 17s finals over the last two years - their most recent success seeing them lift the trophy last year following a 20-15 win against Pontefract.

Under head coach Richard Jones and skipper Oliver Owuor, the Colts’ route to this year’s final began in mid-November with a 49-12 victory over Middlesbrough.

They then overcame Dinnington 31-0 in the second round, before a closer game against Wetherby resulted in a narrow 7-0 triumph in round three.

Last Sunday, a home draw on a pitch only just playable, pitted Malton against Doncaster in the semi final.

However, their 50-10 margin of victory belied a much closer contest than the scoreline would suggest.

Reaching the Cup final is not the only achievement for the club’s Colts this season, for they have already won the East and South Yorkshire League.

The team remained unbeaten across the league campaign, finishing with a points difference of 348 for and 92 against after their nine league games.

“The team’s foundations are the main values in rugby - teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship,” team manager Andrew Walker told the Gazette & Herald.

“Our lads come from six different schools and so we spend a lot of time and emphasis on team building, on and off the pitch.

“They are taught to have respect for each other, the coaches, the opposition and the match officials and our discipline record is exemplary in comparison to other clubs.”

With the backbone of the Colts’ team retained from previous seasons, this year a cohort of the club’s Under 17s have also been successfully integrated into the team.

Walker added: “There are two players who have played since the Under 7s and over half the team have been together for at least the last seven years.

“However this will be their last game together as a team as next year they will move on to senior rugby in clubs and universities around the country as well as our own senior teams.”