Malton continue league rampage (From Gazette & Herald)

Malton continue league rampage

Durham/Northumberland One - North Shields 6, Malton & Norton 35: After a nightmare journey, which included a two-hour hold up at the Tyne Tunnel, Malton eventually arrived at a wet and bleak North Shields with minutes to spare.

An unsympathetic referee then insisted that they should take the field almost immediately, ruling out any form of recommended warm up period. In the circumstances, a cautious start was called for.

As they did the previous week at York, North Shields were quick out of the blocks and opened the scoring after eight minutes with a penalty when Malton were caught offside. Two minutes later, Malton again suffered a cruel blow. The pack succeeded in pushing the hosts' eight off their own ball at a set scrum, only for hooker Carl Muscroft to be penalised for not being in a pushing position. The official awarded a full penalty instead of a free kick and Malton were further behind.

As Malton settled so North Shields began to disappear from the game. On the half hour, fly half Chris Creber was taken out by a high tackle and Ian Cooke narrowed the gap with the penalty.

Forward pressure grew and, with James Machin and Muscroft to the fore, a sustained assault on the home line was rounded off by centre Tim Carney, who took a scoring pass from fellow centre Ryan Lonsdale to score in the corner to take the lead.

Left wing Liam Cowton grabbed the next score after fullback Ben Hough had made a good break to allow the forwards to set up a good position for the ball to be swung back across the park for Cowton to cross for the final action of the half.

With Malton now fully recovered from their earlier trials, they now took complete control of the game. Creber was at his organisational best and Richard Webster was controlling the forward game from the Number Eight position.

Ten minutes into the half, it was the pack again who showed their mettle. A series of drives saw them inch towards the line and flanker Tom Anderson used his strength to drive over close to the posts for Cooke to convert and put Malton into a very strong position.

It was to Malton's credit that they kept their composure in a whistle-dominated game as the penalty count against them mounted for offences which were not always apparent from the side lines. Malton were eventually awarded one such penalty themselves out on the touchline. Undeterred, Hough stepped up to send it cleanly between the posts.

Shortly afterwards, it was Hough again who added to the tally. The pack were arriving at the breakdowns much faster than the opposition and from a turnover ball 30 metres out, it was fed to Hough who carved his way over.

With the ball in hand, Malton always looked dangerous and another attack led to a strong breakdown in the centre from Lonsdale to set up a maul in front of the posts. As the pack edged closer to the line, Muscroft broke free to touch down under the posts to finish another great personal performance.

Hough ensured that the extras were added and Malton, despite the previous setbacks, had earned a well-deserved victory to keep in touch with the promotion places.

Not too long ago, faced with the situation they found themselves in through no fault of their own, Malton may not have coped so well.

However, with the attention to detail and organisation of the game being instilled by coaches Richard John, John Liley and Pat Stephenson now showing dividends, there was never any doubt about the outcome of this encounter.

Updated: 16:48 Thursday, October 27, 2005