NEARLY 40 penalties against Malton and Norton cost them at Billingham as they suffered a narrow 15-13 defeat.

Malton found themselves repeatedly held back by the referee as they lurched from being the most disciplined side in Durham/ Northumberland One to conceding 37 penalties compared to six from the hosts.

On their first visit to the Malton half, Billingham were awarded a penalty 30 metres out. The first attempt missed but the retake - ordered after a Malton player was adjudged to have moved first time round - sailed clear through the posts.

Second rower Duncan Foster was then sin-binned for not allowing the home scrum-half to take a quick free kick and Billingham took advantage with a kick to the corner which was driven over for a try.

Malton turned up the pressure and eventually it told when Ian Cooke sent a penalty through the posts to get them off the mark.

From the restart, Malton were again penalised when No 8 Richard Webster was sin-binned and again the kick to the corner worked for the hosts.

The second half started better for Malton even without Webster and they got a chance to break back into the game when Billingham were caught offside from a line-out in midfield and Cooke again added the three.

But just moments after Webster returned, Malton were again forced down to 14 when prop Jon Richards and a Billingham lock exchanged punches to earn themselves red cards.

With 20 minutes still on the clock, Malton retained hoped of snatching victory and they made the most of some slack Billingham defence to let Cooke carve his way through for a try and convert it from wide out to close the gap to just two points.

Malton pushed on and banged at the Billingham door but with the help of yet more penalties, found the points beyond it impossible to come by and were forced to make do with defeat in a game that will leave them scratching their heads if they look back at the season without promotion.

Updated: 11:44 Monday, January 16, 2006