MALTON & NORTON RUFC overcame injuries and a red card to take a five point win away from Bradford Salem in Yorkshire One.

Flashing between brilliant and mediocre, the Ryedale outfit won 32-28 in a game which did not lack drama.

Malton were slow to get out of the blocks and, after a five minutes, a mixture of poor handling and weak tackling gave the home side the first try of the match.

Salem looked to use the corners in their tight ground to keep Malton penned back in their own half for long periods and the visitors' answer was to counter attack at every opportunity.

Their reward came after 15 minutes when a Salem kick was fielded and the Malton backs were set free. Passing through several pairs of hands, the ball eventually reached right wing Jack Cranage.

He made good ground before handing on to fly-half Nick Daley, who crossed for the first of Malton's four tries. Zweli Sodladla converted to put them in front.

The lead lasted only two minutes as Salem went ahead with a penalty when Malton entered a ruck illegally. Ten minutes later, they extended their lead with another kick through the posts.

Malton replied with another breakaway try.

A defence splitting pass from centre Dylan Readman found Cranage on the half-way line and the wing powered away from the defence to score from 40 metres out.

Sodladla again converted and, with number eight Josh Heggie rampant, a dangerous tackle allowed Malton to kick an easy penalty and lead 17-11 at the break.

They were straight out of the blocks after the restart.

A long kick to the corner from Ian Cooke failed to find touch but Cranage followed up well and outstripped the defence to get the touchdown in the corner, Sodlada's kick from the touchline adding the extras.

Salem were subsequently reduced to 14 men when a yellow card was shown for another high tackle only for Malton to suffer what looked like a hammer blow when Sodladla was sent off for a dangerous tackle - a decision that left the scrum-half distraught.

They responded, though, by grabbing their fourth, and bonus point, try.

From a scrum on half-way, Heggie picked up, broke and handed on to flanker Ali Coe. The latter made good headway before feeding full-back Cooke to cross.

Malton now held an 18 point advantage and, with ten minutes to go, the game looked secure.

Salem had other ideas. They used their numerical advantage and outnumbered the visitors to grab the first of three quick tries.

Cooke's penalty, after Salem were caught offside, made the score 32-16, but Malton's defensive wall were under huge pressure and Bradford reduced the deficit.

Fly-half Daley was forced to leave the field with a head injury and, deep into injury time, Salem struck again from a tap penalty close to the Malton try line.

The maul inched forward and the try was given and converted but Malton hung on to take the victory.

It was a fine away win for Malton which brought high cost in injuries. Heggie, Thornton, Cooke and Daley were outstanding for Malt and a fine team effort ensured they stayed in second in the table.

Pocklington trailed by three points at the interval at Beverley in North One East but stepped up in the second half to win 20-8.

Despite being bottom of the table and pointless, Beverley provided determined defence that Pocklington were unable to break down despite a clear set piece advantage and the only score of the half was a penalty by Beverley skipper Phil Duboulay.

They got their act together soon after the restart when Jack Holbrough plunged over, Nathan Saltmer converting.

Saltmer then banged over a 38-yard penalty but Pock then took their foot off the gas and allowed Beverley to breakaway for a try to close the gap to two points.

Pock regrouped to pull away with tries by both of their Australian debutants in the closing quarter. 

Backs and forwards combined to release Aussie wing Charlie Wilson, son of former Pock scrum-half Pete, to dive over in the left corner before backs and forwards combined and flanker Johnny Wood stretched out to score.

York took a 29-10 success away from West Park Leeds in Yorkshire One, while Selby picked up their first win of the season when beating North Ribblesdale 20-14.

York RI started slowly against Ossett in Yorkshire Four and conceded a try after only three minutes as they went in 12-0 behind at the interval.

The New Laners started the second half better and Yohan Barthelemy crashed over to reduce the deficit.

The scores were levelled at 12-12 by Rob Cuthbertson with ten minutes to go but, just as it seemed RI were on top, Ossett scored two tries to forge 22-12 ahead.

Andy Brentnall then beat three players and outpaced the Ossett defence to score a great RI try but, at the death, Ossett kicked a penalty to take a 25-17 victory.