Archive - Wednesday, 16 October 2002


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Malt shell-shocked by opening blitz

Yorkshire Two West Park Bramhope 27 pts Malton and Norton 7 pts

Malton and Norton found themselves 19 points down within just ten minutes of the start.

West Park received the kick-off and immediately attacked the Malton defence. A mazy run by the home threequarters, assisted by some missed tackles by Malton, resulted in a try under the posts before the visitors had their bearings.

From the restart, Malton tried to outwit the home side by kicking away from the forwards. The tactic was fraught with danger as West Park gathered and again ran half the length of the field to score with less than five minutes on the clock. Again, the conversion was successful and Malton had a mountain to climb.

After 15 minutes, West Park took their own ball at a line-out and a rolling maul saw them trundle over the Malton line for an unconverted score.

Malton then came into the game and enjoyed territorial advantage for much of the remainder of the half. Good line kicking from Chris Creber and Will Barber pegged West Park back and frustrated the home side, who were constantly penalised for killing the ball. On another day Malt might have been awarded a penalty try on several occasions. However, despite Malton's pressure, the league's meanest defence refused to yield and the half-time score remained 19-0.

With the slight slope in their favour, Malt kept up the pressure in the second half and caused concern in the home side, resulting in the sin-binning of a prop forward for stamping. A red card would have been the deserved punishment.

Malton were also reduced to 14 men with a sin-binning and West Park took full advantage. From a scrum close to the Malton line, they heaved the Malton pack backwards to score an unconverted push-over try. A penalty late in the game sealed the score for the home side, who were deserved winners.

The set back will affect the spirits of the side but they should learn from this experience for the forthcoming Powergen Vase game at Wensleydale this Saturday. The table is still wide open and, with no side stamping any authority at the top, there is still a lot to play for.

Updated: 10:02 Wednesday, October 16, 2002