Malton pile on the agony for lowly Scarborough (From Gazette & Herald)

Malton pile on the agony for lowly Scarborough

Yorkshire One - Malton and Norton 38, Scarborough 0. ALREADY-relegated Scarborough were no match for a carefree Malton side, who played some exhilarating rugby.

Scarborough kicked off and initially kept the new champions penned back.

However, centre Liam Cowton made a good break from defence and play was carried on upfield for hooker Carl Muscroft to score between the posts. Ian Cooke added the extra points.

The next score soon followed when Malton gained possession on half way and Cowton found himself in the clear to race to the line. Cooke made no mistake with the conversion.

The Malton pack, with Liam Vaughan and Chris Robson prominent, were in full cry, swarming all over the field snuffing out Scarborough attempts to recover at source and hungry for every loose ball.

Duncan Foster and Richard Webster were dominating the line-outs. From one catch and drive, they drove into the visitors' 22, where flanker Andy Mitchell broke free to gallop over for his side's third try.

Malton could well have added to their tally within minutes when a well-worked three-quarter movement almost paid off for fullback Jason Simpson to break through. Unfortunately, he was unable to hold the final pass and the half-time difference remained at 19 points

In the second period, half-backs Jon Newsome and Chris Creber were in full control and some of the handling in the three-quarters was a delight to watch. Creber and inside centre David Webster, in particular, kept Scarborough guessing with some exquisite moves.

One excellent piece of handling, with Creber at the hub, gave impressive number eight James McKay the chance to charge over between the posts. Cooke converted.

Scarborough then rallied briefly as Malton resettled after making three early substitutions to give extended runs to Rob Mills at flanker and Dan Dickinson at hooker.

A series of scrummages and forward drives close to the Malton line looked like succeeding, but Malton weathered the storm, before breaking free for another score.

Next, a sweeping move along the right wing ended with McKay charging over.

But Malton saved the best for last. From a ruck 30 metres out, Creber made a half break before feeding David Webster, who quickly transferred to Tim Chapman, on as a substitute for Cowton.

He flipped the ball Fijian style over his head to left-wing Tom Stephenson who needed no second invitation from 15 metres out. A magnificent kick from the touchline from Cooke rounded off the scoring.

Malton will play York RI in the Yorkshire Shield at Malton on Wednesday, April 21, at 7.30pm. If they are successful, they will meet Keighley in the semi-final the following Saturday.

Updated: 11:39 Wednesday, April 07, 2004