Malton & Norton Under-19s lose 22-18 at West Park Leeds (From Gazette & Herald)

Malton & Norton Under-19s lose 22-18 at West Park Leeds

11:53am Wednesday 14th December 2011 in Junior Sport

Malton & Norton Under-19s Colts were hit by a late sucker punch as they lost 22-18 at West Park Leeds on their return to league action.

Coach Richard John demanded a more dynamic start from his side and, in wet and muddy conditions, they took an early lead with an Ali Heard penalty. Heard had returned from his exploits with the Yorkshire colts representative side.

It was a fairly error-strewn half due to the conditions but Malt upped their lead with a try by Joe Godliman following good driving play from the improving Pete Hopkins, quick hands from the backs and a well-timed pass by full-back Tom Clarke.

West Park hit back with a try and, as Malton went to sleep for 20 second-half minutes, they built a 17-8 lead.

A series of drives by Malton’s reignited forwards saw Charlie Reed crash over and, with two minutes left, a well-worked blind-side move saw Godliman score his second try for an 18-17 lead.

However, West Park’s busy backs broke clear to snatch the spoils.

Malton U19’s Colts host Hull Ionians at The Gannock on Sunday (12.30pm).

Appalling weather conditions contributed to a rather scrappy fixture as Malton & Norton U17s beat Beverley 24-5.

Malt looked the better side throughout but struggled to achieve continuity and nail down points.

Nevertheless, tries came from Joe Brown, rolling off a maul, Brennon Kay, racing home from well out after a pop pass from a Danny Boddy break, Adam Durrant, after the ball passed through several pairs of hands, and James Bulmer, showing good pace. Bulmer added two conversions.

A late Ben Tenge try saw Malton & Norton U14s pip Wath-Upon-Dearne 10-5 to reach the semi finals of the Yorkshire Plate for the second year running.

Malton were made to work hard for the full 50 minutes by a strong tackling Wath side, and both teams made a mockery of awful conditions to at times play some free-flowing rugby.

Wath led 5-0 at half-time, although Malt wingers Tom Moody and Tom Morrison impressed in defence, supported by centres Ollie Lee and Caleb Barratt, and Lucian Watts returned the ball with interest when Wath kicked.

Both sides increased their efforts in the second half and had chances to win the game.

Malton’s moment came from one of several scrums close to Wath’s line. Will Hampshire was held up but a rucked ball came back quickly for Gareth Skelton to crash over.

The referee controversially deemed Malt wasted too much time on the conversion but, with a draw looking likely, Dan Ingham dived on a kicked ball and the Malton backs were unleashed and swept quickly upfield. The final ball went to Tenge, who sprinted over.

Malton & Norton U13s had only 14 players but thrashed a combined Hornsea and Hessle side 50-0, while verything clicked in attack and defence as Malton & Norton U13s Development Squad played superbly to beat Beverley 29-17.

Jack Charters scored all five of their tries but it was a true team effort in appalling conditions.

Billy Garritty chose the right moments to run or kick from fly-half, and Jamie Knaggs as usual made bullocking runs, ably supported by team-mates.

Some extraordinary passages of play were marked by fantastic handling from both teams.

With 10 minutes to go, the scores were level but Malton showed passion to pull off the win, Jake Newsome getting injured when showing determination to protect the Malton line late on.