Coup for Malton as Otago ace speeds in (From Gazette & Herald)

Coup for Malton & Norton as Otago ace Kenton Leiataua speeds in

3:03pm Wednesday 13th February 2013 in Sport

OTAGO sevens star Kenton Leiataua has joined Malton & Norton in a coup for the North One East club.

The winger, who has also played for Dunedin Premier Rugby side Pirates in New Zealand, made his debut for The Gannock club in Saturday’s 62-26 win at Durham City and club chiefs are excited about his prospects.

He has joined fellow Kiwi Pat Fifita in Ryedale and, although he failed to get on the scoresheet in his opening game as Malt put on a ruthless display to dominate bottom-placed Durham, he has shown his speed.

“We got him through our contacts and he wanted to come across,” said club spokesman Bill Laidler.

“He’s very quick. He is here for a couple of years and he has been brought in for next season more than anything. He’s a young lad, he wanted to do a bit of travelling, and we are very excited about his arrival.”

Ian Cooke moved from full-back to partner Ryan Lonsdale in the centres and Tom Newitt shifted from wing to full-back to accommodate Leiataua against Durham and, despite a heavy surface, Malton made inroads straight from the off.

The move was finished off when Lonsdale cruised over after a minute for the first of his four tries.

The next 10 minutes were spent almost exclusively in the Durham half as Malton created a number of openings with excellent handling and lines of running. A score was bound to come and it arrived when left-wing Henry Newitt crossed in the corner.

They added to their tally midway through the first half when scrum-half Tom Boyle took a quick penalty and threw out a long pass to Henry Newitt who again crossed. Cooke added a touchline conversion.All departments of the Malton machine were operating smoothly and, when Henry Barnes stole a loose ball at a Durham scrum, he fed fellow flanker Sam Triffitt 20 metres out.

Determination and power took him to the line to scramble over for his side’s fourth and bonus-point try. Cooke booted another fine conversion.

Malton were prepared to run the ball from anywhere on the pitch and, when Lonsdale broke from his own 22, he quickly made headway before handing on to Tom Newitt, who finished off out wide.

Durham never appeared downhearted and replied on half-time. Taking their own lineout close to the Malt line, they drove forward before releasing the ball to the backs, leading to a try under the posts.

Malton began the second half in the same vein as they had the first, and slick handling and strong running produced more goods as Lonsdale romped over.

Durham took advantage of a loose pass in defence, with five minutes gone, to score their second try of the day. But Malton’s response was not long in coming.

Barnes took the ball at the tail of a lineout and drove forward. When it was released, some sublime handling bamboozled the defence for Cooke to score from range.

At the midway point of the half, Malton were at it again. Seizing possession at a Durham lineout inside the Malton half, the ball was quickly whipped across the pitch to Lonsdale, who powered through several tackles before handing to Boyle to finish under the posts.

Durham struck with another drive from a lineout to make it 48-19.

But the visitors soon regrouped and debutant fly-half James Bulmer showed great vision and technique before releasing Lonsdale, who cantered over from 40 metres.

Two minutes later, a brilliant break by Cooke took him through the home defence and Lonsdale was on hand again to run in from a similar distance. Cooke added both conversions.

Durham got a bonus point when they again drove from a lineout to score in the corner with the final play of the game.

Malton entertain second bottom Darlington on Saturday.

Malton (at Durham): T Newitt, H Newitt, Lonsdale, Cooke, Leiataua, Bulmer, Boyle, Dobson, Thompson, Featherstone (D.Johnson), Foster, Rounthwaite, Ramsay (Parsons), Barnes, Triffitt.