EVER-IMPROVING Malton & Norton RUFC eased their Yorkshire One relegation fears with a 47-10 victory over basement side Glossop at The Gannock.

The Ryedale team produced a sparkling display as they won with plenty to spare against opposition anchored to the foot of the league.

Glossop have a large pack and very little else, so their approach is one-dimensional. If their forward juggernaut can be stopped, there is no alternative plan. Malton’s gameplan was simple – attack from everywhere and get the ball away from the forward battle – and it worked a treat.

The first breach of the visitors’ defence came after five minutes when Ian Cooke broke from the Malton half and sent in volunteer scrum-half Nathan Reid for a try under the posts. Cooke booted the first of his six conversions. Constant Malton pressure meant Glossop were conceding penalties at regular intervals. From one, the quick-thinking Reid took the kick and passed it wide before looping round to take the return and drive for the line. A combination of his strength and the power of his supporting players took him over for the second try. There was hardly time to draw breath before the next score. Fly-half Bill McCrone broke on half way and opened the way for number eight Simon Badgery to battle through half-hearted tackles before sending in centre Phil Pateman.

So often this season Malton have fallen apart with a 20-point lead and that briefly looked likely again as they went into a period of slumber.

Glossop reduced the deficit when Malt were penalised for entering a ruck from the wrong side. However, Malton went back on the offensive as another Cooke break was carried on by wingers Elliot Richardson and Stephen Scoles. However, the final pass was adjudged to be forward and the half ended with Malton 21-3 ahead.

Malton had the wind advantage in the second period and it did not take long for the game to spring back to life as Reid was dispatched to the sin-bin when he tried to remove a Glossop player from an offside position with his feet. Despite his absence, Malton ran in two tries.

Firstly, a strong forward drive in the visitors’ 22 gave stand-in scrum-half Scoles the opportunity to show his all-round skills with a break from the base to carry him over for his side’s fourth try.

Then good line-out ball was transferred to the backs for Dave Gardner to set up good position in midfield. The ball was quickly transferred to Richardson, who crossed in the corner. Malton again had a five-minute breather, which allowed Glossop to reduce the arrears again with a converted try. Home skipper Andy Mitchell also left the field early with a shoulder injury and was replaced by 20-year-old Jamie Rounthwaite. But in the 20 minutes he was on the field, the debutant made an impact. After Reid had disrupted Glossop possession at a scrum and picked up, Rounthwaite took his pass and crashed over under the posts. Then a ruck on the left touchline produced fast ball for Malton and it was swung across field where an exquisite piece of handling by Roun-thwaite created the extra man for Gardner to cross for a deserved try.

Cooke’s final goal put the seal on Malton’s most convincing display of the last two years. The side are showing great cohesion and the outlook looks brighter by the week. Malton take a rest this Saturday before heading to Bridlington the following week.

Malton: I Cooke (J Dempsey 65-70mins), S Scoles, P Pateman, D Gardner, E Richardson, W McCrone, N Reid, P Dobson (N Salisbury 35-45mins), S Piercy, B Boothman, D Foster, R Webster, A Mitchell (J Rounthwaite 60mins), G Dolman, S Badgery.