Yorkshire One - Wheatley Hills 15 pts - Malton and Norton 19 pts. Malton and Norton clinched victory in their final match of the season to leave them Yorkshire One champions by seven points.

Veteran lock forward Tim Casey led them out for his final first-team game against mid-table Wheatley Hills, who made them fight all the way.

Malton opened brightly enough. One break from defence by Neil Gilbertson could well have been the trigger needed if the support play had been a little quicker to the breakdown.

Wheatley's game plan was to kick all possession gained for field position. In fly-half Ashley Hanson, they had just the man for the job as Malton were constantly driven back by the power of his boot.

It was his boot which gave his side a nine-point lead as Malton were penalised three times for infringements at the breakdown.

Through Duncan Foster and Andy Mitchell, ball was guaranteed from the line-outs for Malton, whose powerful driving was proving a problem to the Wheatley pack. In the backs, Malton always looked dangerous.

Ian Cooke was the man to get the breakthrough. A good break from fly-half Chris Creber was carried on by David Webster, who judged his pass perfectly for Cooke to cross in the corner. Prior to this score, Malton had been denied a try when they were held up over the line and, again, when full-back Jason Simpson just failed to take a scoring pass to go over under the posts.

From the restart, Wheatley immediately restored their lead when Hanson dropped a goal from a set scrummage.

Malton raised the pace for the second half and soon levelled the scores when James McKay broke from a set scrum on the Wheatley 22-metre line. With a customary burst, he shattered the defence to score wide out. A magnificent conversion kick from the touch-line by Cooke levelled the scores.

With Malton's tails up, Carl Muscroft and Liam Vaughan made strong runs into the heart of the tiring home pack to set up good positions close to the line.

Simpson was hungry for the ball and produced a magical piece of running to cross for Malton's third try. Gaining possession just inside the 22-metre area, he beat two men before slipping and regaining his feet to jink and side-step his way through to cross close to the posts. Cooke's conversion was a formality.

Wheatley ensured that Malton would not have it all their own way with a penalty to bring them within four points with five minutes to play. However, it was Malton who finished the stronger and gained the two points necessary to maintain their seven-point lead and round off another memorable league campaign.

Head coach Richard John said: "Wheatley Hills were a side in form, having been unbeaten in eight games. Though there was nothing much to play for, the guys have set the standard this season and did not want to let things just peter out."

All efforts will now be concentrated on the Yorkshire Shield. Tonight (Wednesday) they entertain York RI at The Gannock, kick-off 7.30pm, with the winners travelling to Keighley this Saturday for the semi-final.

John said: "We've never won it before, so it would be nice to do the double."

Captain Chris Creber is now absent for the rest of the season, having flown back to Australia for the summer. Neil Gilbertson will retain his place in the squad, while John Dobson and Rob Tate have also been added.

Updated: 11:33 Wednesday, April 21, 2004