With Ionians 1st xv fixture in National League 2 cancelled due to an outbreak of scrum pox at Otley rufc, attention was focused on this game several levels below the above mentioned as Malton's 2nd string welcomed Hull Ionians 2nd xv to The Gannock.

On paper a mismatch but credit to Malton as they fought to the end and indeed salvaged their collective pride with a try moments before the final whistle.

Ionians arrived with a big pack, a speedy no11, and a fly half who went about his business from the comfort of an "armchair ride".

The runes did not read well for Malton as in the opening minute the visiting loose head prop steamrolled his way to the home line and when he was eventually brought down the second phase possession provided an easy five points. 0-5

Malton now from the restart took the game to their visitor's twenty metre area and after several minutes trying to find their way through a tight well coordinated defence without success pragmatically took 3 points when offered a penalty in minute eight. 3-5

The reply from Ionians came shortly after with a converted try. 3-12

In the fifteenth minute another penalty award was converted by Finlinson to take the score and his side within reach of their opponents. 6-12

During the following twenty five minutes of this opening half it became evident that despite the brave efforts of the fifteen Malton men on the park the gulf in class was always going to be too wide for the home side. Ionians kept the scoreboard operator busy with four tries and two conversions in minutes 20, 23, 30 and 40, and as the halftime oranges arrived a glance at the scoreboard made poor reading from a Malton perspective. 6-36

A pep talk from coach Lumley at the interval seemed to put some steel into Malton's 15 men, occasionally down to 14 as the referee stuck rigidly to the letter of the rugby law book with several yellow cards served to both sides.

The visitor's scoring was restricted to 17 points, less than half the total they had rattled up in the opening 40 minutes and as previously mentioned Malton concluded the scoring with a try from Turnbull converted by the trusty boot of Finlinson to take the final score to 13-53

Next week the boys take on Ripon 1stxv and I hope that as many as can will make the short journey to the picturesque ground in their delightful cathedral city, home to the "hornblower".

Malton: Charlie Towse, Harry Alngohuro, Lewis Welch, Sam Hancock, Will Ennis, George Turnbull, Byron Marshall, Harry Gurney, Joe Browne, Adam Finlinson, Presley Carr, Matt Jefferson, Charlie Tindall, Ben North, Nick Jones.

Bench: (all used) Al Wilkinson, Tom Smith, Ian Cooke.

Scorers: Turnbull 1 try

Finlinson 2 pens, 1con.