Malton back on form (From Gazette & Herald)

Malton back on form

Durham/Northumberland One: Redcar 9, Malton & Norton 15

Malton took the points to sustain their promotion drive but not before they were given a thorough test by a rejuvenated Redcar that had caused more than a few problems.

The visitors began brightly enough and opened the scoring in the second minute after some good forward play produced quick ball for fly half Chris Creber to break through the defence 30 metres from the line. As ever, the Malton back row were on his shoulder and flanker Karl Shaw took over to power over for the opening try.

Malton then seemed content to sit back on their laurels and expect scores to come with ease. Redcar, on the other hand, were keen to show that they have improved since the last meeting in October.

With young fly half Keiran McMahon at the hub, the hosts pinned Malton back for long periods and twice made them conceed penalties for offside which Redcar took full advantage to take the lead.

With Malton stuck in third gear, Redcar kept hammering away at the Malton defence and on the odd occasion that Malton did threaten, the home defence proved as watertight as Malton's.

On the stroke of half time, McMahon broke the deadlock when he cheekily dropped a goal from to give his side a four-point lead.

A half time pep talk seemed to do the trick for Malton. As in the opening half, they scored in the first minute when Redcar were offside and Ian Cooke added the penalty to narrow the gap to one point.

Redcar's young backs were still posing problems for Malton but stout defence, lead by David Cooke, kept them at bay. The Malton line out was functioning well and Richard Webster was able to steal a couple of balls to relieve the pressure.

Finally, with 10 minutes left, Malton showed their true mettle. From a Redcar kick into the Malton 22-metre area, full back Ian Cooke elected to run the ball before transferring to centre Ryan Lonsdale, who made tremendous ground along the touchline before handing on to substitute prop James Machin with 40 metres remaining.

In days of yore, the task would have been beyond most prop forwards. However, this is a different era, and Machin pinned back his ears and left the chasers in his wake as he crossed beneath the posts.

Cooke added the extras and Malton had 10 minutes to hang onto their spoils. Despite a gallant effort, Redcar were unable to breach the line and Malton held out.

Not a vintage Malton performance but the points were gained. However, they must quickly learn that they must raise the tempo against sides who are either fighting relegation battles or, like Redcar, who are rebuilding, and every player is playing for his place.

Coach Richard John said: "We're in a very healthy position where, for some positions, we have a number of players wanting a game.

"I was the most vocal I have been at half time since I've been there. I had to gee the players up a bit. They weren't playing well.

"I told them that we could either pick things up a bit or we could lose a second game. They responded admirably - all credit to the players.

"We play North Shields on Saturday at home. We're having a look at injuries and seeing who's available.

"We always play better at home and are looking forward to it."

Updated: 14:43 Wednesday, January 25, 2006