After the euphoria following the victory away at Wharfdale the Juniors were brought down to earth with a resounding bump by a very determined side from North Leeds. The tone of the game was set in the opening few minutes as errors by the home team gave Yarnbury good field position from which to score a penalty kick and then a try.

It took almost half the first period for Malton to get their hands on the ball and put pressure on the visitor’s line. Once again a quickly taken tap penalty paid dividends as Josh Pratt forced himself over for “Malts” opening score.

Things almost got better for the home side but unfortunately another opportunity to score was thwarted soon afterwards only a yard short of the line. With the Malton scrum struggling and the usually very efficient line out misfiring, Yarnbury soon began to regain control and once again extend their lead just seconds before half time.

With only eight points the difference as the second half began all was not lost for Malton but it was another mistake at a lineout that gifted the visitors the ball on halfway. Yarnbury made full use of the possession to score a good try, followed up with another try soon afterwards following some good handling around a five-metre scrum.

With a commanding 20 point lead Yarnbury then showed how to defend by maintaining possession for several minutes at a time. It was only when a clearance kick dropped infield on the halfway line that the deadlock was broken.

An exciting individual run by Ross Harrison saw him weave his way through the whole Yarnbury defence and score under the posts. Dan Cattle, who maintained his 100% kicking performance this season, confidently put the conversion away.

It was Malton who finished pressuring the visitors line but it was too little too late. Positives in the defeat, at times some good defence and promising attacking play by Malton although they were guilty of not capitalising on scoring when opportunities were created. It was however the simple mistakes that ultimately gifted Yarnbury points and with them the game.

The under 17s travelled to Leeds to play Morley in this Yorkshire league fixture with only 15 players due to unavailability's and injury. malton unlike in their previous games started the stronger and were rewarded a penalty after Morley had been adjudged to have gone over the top at a ruck 10 meters out, and Dan cattle duly obliged with three points.

Morley were the next to score against the run of play and also added to their total soon afterwards due to missed tackles which was a problem area throughout the game.at the turnaround the score was a creditable 24 v3 to Morley.

To Maltons credit they raised their game to constantly drive their larger opponents towards the gain line with series of short direct thrusts which provided a constant supply of quality ball . Newcomer and man of the match Mark Howarth excelled in this kind of play and proved to be a handful with his driving play. This was rewarded with a try from regular flanker Guy Dolman who was in his unaccomplished position of centre!

Malton were now gaining ascendancy but lost two players, Charlie Rounthwaite due to concussion and Sam Turnbull a knee injury which he had carried all game. Two men short Morley made the extra numbers count and ran in a converted try to end the match.

T o maltons credit they never allowed the well drilled home side to run away with the game which they had threatened to do and to be fair malton have won games in the past with far less possesion then they won today.

All in all in the coaches perspective a return which Malton will relish due to the positives which came out of towards game.

After last weeks demolition of Old Rishworthians by 50 plus points the Under 17s resumed their league program with Wharfedale visiting the Gannock. The visit to Wharfedale in the opening league game of the season saw a very tight game with Malton squeezing ahead in the final quarter to record a narrow victory.

The game began with several errors by both sides keeping play in the middle third of the pitch. Pressure finally told with Wharfedale taking the lead with a penalty as the Malton backs strayed off side. The home side responded positively and drew level, as it was the visitors who were penalized at the ruck.

The first half continued a tight affair but it was Wharfedale that scored the first try with a quickly taken tap penalty. The Malton defence were slow to react and conceded a try under the posts, which was duly converted. To their credit Malton responded with an excellent try of there own following an attacking 5-metre scrum.

Solid work by the forwards gave the sound base which allowed scrum half Dan Cattle to finish off a well-worked move. Unfortunately the conversion went wide giving the visitors a 2-point lead at half time.

With everything to play for in the second half both sides played good attacking rugby without really threatening. The decisive moment came as the ball squirted unexpectedly from the side of a Wharfedale scrum. The visitors scrum half was first to react to retrieve the ball and sprint unopposed more than half the pitch to score under the posts. Malton however responded once again with a try of their own scored by Anthony Doe following some good handling by the backs.

With the 2 point difference restored the game was once again evenly balanced as the tension mounted. Ultimately however, it was Whafedale who finished strongest in both attack and defence with another penalty kick and try in the final moments. Victory for Wharedale, in what had been a most absorbing game, was probably down to slightly better defence and quick thinking when taking tap penalties.

An early start for the trip to Yarnbury and Malton & Norton U17 arrived in good time for the scheduled 11:00 K.O. only to find the water-logged pitch barely playable. A delayed start allowed the hosts time to put the final touches to the playing surface enabling the fixture to be played.

In the early exchanges and with the elements at their backs Yarnbury looked as though they would be too strong for Malton, but with 10 minutes gone and against the run of play Malton ripped open the defence with great hands and pace before recycling the ball and spreading the attack to the other side of the field. Inevitably Yarnbury conceded a penalty five metres out to halt the attack, but from the tap Malton’s forwards drove over for Raines to score and Drake to convert.

From the restart Yarnbury re-applied the pressure and a probing run through midfield asked questions of Malt’s defence, but sadly there was no answer and soft try was conceded. The conversion was missed, but having found a weakness Yarnbury were back within minutes to repeat the move and take a 12 – 7 lead.

Malton conceded yet another try but rather than lie down they strung together more excellent passages of play resulting in another touch down for Raines and one for Turnbull. At this stage of the game Malt’s support play and handling in atrocious conditions was quite outstanding and on half-time the score was 22 – 19 with all to play for with the wind behind them in the second half.

Despite excellent scummaging and useful possession, Malton were unable to add to their score. The best chance came with a clear overlap on the left and danger man Thomo looking certain to score, but a poor pass went nowhere near him and the opportunity was wasted. Eventually the Yarnbury forwards drove over the line and in the absence of a video ref a try was awarded by the Yarnbury coaches to seal the game.

Malton can take great credit for another gutsy performance against strong opposition but they must make the first time tackles if they are to win games at this level. Sam Turbull and Luke Raines were outstanding for Malton and special thanks to Riddolls and Drakey who made the round trip from Cumbria to play.

Malton Under 17s played host to Morley at the Gannock in the last of their league games and secured a hard fought victory despite being on the back foot for most of the game. What it showed was how the Under 17s are maturing as a team this season. The stats would probably show Malton had only 25% of the possession but, with determined defence and clinical finishing, a positive result was achieved.

Conditions were perfect and both sides needed the win as they both languish in the lower half of what is proving to be a very tough league. The opening exchanges were confined to the middle of the pitch as the Malton defence proved equal to the visitors attacks. On several occasions it was the Morley backs who made mistakes with the ball in hand which allowed Malton to relieve the pressure. Guy Dolman in particular was at his best, making a nuisance of himself with his speed and big tackles.

It was against the run of play that the visitors found themselves with a scrum back in their own 22. The clearing kick was directed straight into the chest of Sam Turnbull who was looking to charge down the kick. In one movement he gathered the ball and forced himself and two defenders over the line for the opening score. The conversion was expertly dispatched by George Drake from within two metres of the side line to give Malton a seven point lead.

Morley responded with some excellent play that forced Malton onto the defensive deep in their own half. It was the home backs however, who showed what a dangerous force they are with ball in hand as they bravely ran the ball out of defence. The move swept the ball out to Anthony Doe on the wing. As he was tackled he cleverly popped the ball back to centre Josh Pratt looping round on the outside. His pace took him around the winger, a well weighted chip over the fullback was well gathered, allowing him to run in under the posts.

Morley showed they were not finished as they threw everything at Malton and were rewarded with a try either side of half time, as the home sides defence began to creak under the pressure. Both conversions were missed to leave the visitors trailing by four points early in the second half.

If the first half possession had been marginally one sided in favour of the visitors, the second half saw them dominate totally. The Morley pack won clean lineout ball almost at will and the Malton scrum was put under so much pressure and penalised by the ref. it became no contest.

At the same time the referee’s decisions all seemed to favour the visitors. To compound the problems, the Morley penalty kicks for touch started to make big gains down one side as the Morley coach decided to take on the role of linesman. But still the Malton defence held. It was only in the final minutes of the game that Malton laid their hands on the ball and forced their way into the visitors 22. Possession was unfortunately handed back to Morley but they could not clear their lines. Phil Pateman pounced on a loose ball, which was spun away from the ruck, finally into the hands of Tom Riddolls who ran in under the posts to seal an excellent win.

Malton travelled to Sheffield full of confidence after lasts weeks impressive performance against Barnsley.

The opening exchanges were even with Sheffield using their classy back-line to penetrate the malton defence, however the malton defence repelled their counterparts with excellent tackling and with the scrum solid were able to be a constant threat to a team which was somewhat surprised at the threat malton posed.

After numerous plays in the Malton 22, Sheffield could not breach the try line and instead took the option to get points on the board by kicking a drop goal to take the lead by three points which was the half time score.

Malton turned around with great anticipation knowing that if they could keep up their standard of play a shock result could be on the cards. Again Malts aggressive driving play caused problems in the Sheffield ranks and they were rewarded by a try through centre Anthony doe who brushed off several would be tacklers to score, the conversion missed to give malt a 5 3 advantage.

The home side now raised their game but were often to elaborate in their execution, however due to first time missed tackles by the Malton side Sheffield duly scored a converted try .

Sheffield now grew in confidence and added to their tally with an unconverted try and a penalty, but malton, if they had been a bit more fortunate with 50/50 decisions the score would have been much closer.

A fantastic performance from all 20 players, who all got on the pitch to give the Sheffield 15 a severe test, well done from all the coaching team.

On the back of a great performance last weekend losing narrowly away to top of the table Sheffield, Malton were strongly fancied to beat Roundhegians at home. Who could have predicted the manner of their slender win with Malton unusually beaten in the set piece and yet all three front row forwards scoring tries?

As early nerves settled, Malton played text book rugby working steadily toward the opposition line. Roundhegians conceded a series of penalties before Mike Linsley stepped up to take the first 3 points. With their stall set out Malton then appeared to lose the plot, unable to win their own scrum or move the ball to the backs they conceded a penalty for Roundhegians to even the score with 20 minutes gone.

From the restart, Phil Pateman switched the play with a mazy run before feeding prop Sam Triffitt. Then the champaign moment, with players in support Triff, 45 meters out, showed the ball (can’t spell dummy) then gassed the defence with the pace of a centre to score unopposed. A good start to the second half and sustained pressure from Malton saw Ben Boothman finally drive over and Mike Linsley convert to take a 15 – 3 lead.


Back came Roundhegians with forward pressure forcing a penalty and driving over to keep the game alive with a well-deserved try. Back came Malton with good hands, and Sam Turnbull as ever linking backs and forwards for Luke Raines, the third member of the front row club, to deceive the last defender (still can’t spell dummy) and sprint to the line to open a 12 point gap.

More sustained pressure from Malton and then a Roundhegians clearance kick from 5 meters into mid-field caught Malton napping as they sprinted to score under the posts and again narrow the gap. With 5 minutes to go Malton played patiently in the opposition 22 and were rewarded with a penalty which Mike Linsley converted on full-time.

Throughout the game Guy Dolman was outstanding at open side with his trade mark bone-crunching tackles – just needs to remember to take his hand out of his pockets when taking a tap penalty. Mike Linsley looked the part again at full back catching and kicking well, and adding goal points.

Wings Charlie Rounthwaite and Andy Thompson were solid in defence and always looked threatening when they got the ball. Malton have played better games and lost this season, but the win was due and well-deserved.