Yorkshire Division One: West Park Leeds 23 Malton & Norton 30

THE good news is that Malton & Norton are top of the table after winning a match they might have lost in the closing stages.

The bad news is that long-time front-runners Bradford & Bingley, who host Malton on April 16, are only a point behind with two games in hand.

This was Malton's eighth straight league victory since the Bees beat them on December 12 but why West Park are bottom of the table is a mystery on this evidence as they made the visitors fight for 80 minutes.

Malton looked good in the opening minutes and, from a scrum five metres from the home line, No 8 Josh Heggie broke and fed scrum half Zweli Sodladla, whose flat pass found Rhys Bowdich, the centre strolling over between the posts for Sodladla to convert.

But if the visitors thought they were in for a comfortable afternoon, they were mistaken as West Park fought back with a series of powerful drives deep into the heart of Malton's defence.

They were held up over the line, and the visitors were penalised from the ensuing five-metre scrum for entering from an offside position, West Park taking a quick tap penalty to score from another strong drive.

The conversion made it 7-7, but it was soon 10-7 as Malton's propensity to concede penalties continued as they again entered a ruck from the wrong side.

However, the reply was not long in coming as prop Ed Gwilliam wrestled possession from West Park in the visitors' 22 and they spun the ball to the backs, full back Sizwe Zondo spotting a gap for Sodladla to beat his man on halfway and scorch down the touchline to score in the corner.

But Malton's indiscipline let them down on the half-hour, hooker James Thornton receiving a yellow card and, in his absence, West Park bagged their second try, this time from a catch and drive.

That made it 15-12 to the home side but the lead was short-lived as Sodladla landed contrasting penalties, one from short range and the other from halfway that bounced off the crossbar.

Malton were playing up the slope and against a freshening breeze in the second half but despite some strong drives in the home 22, it took them until halfway through the stanza to crack West Park's defence.

A clean catch and drive at a line-out produced a try for skipper Sam Triffitt, and Sodladla's conversion meant that West Park needed two scores to retake the lead.

Indiscipline was still causing the visitors problems, however, and a further penalty meant that the deficit was reduced to five points.

Malton were only showing their best spasmodically but prop Rob Featherstone scored for them from a well-controlled drive to secure the four-try bonus point.

Five minutes from time, West Park slotted another penalty to reduce the margin to seven points and gain a bonus point and, although West Park finished strongly, Malton's defence held them out.

Malton have this weekend off before entertaining Bridlington in what should be an intriguing derby.

Malton: S Zondo; I Cooke, V Dyantjies, R Bowdich, B Woodhouse; J Bulmer, Z Sodladla; R Featherstone, J Thornton, E Gwilliam, J Lumley, J Rounthwaite, A Coe, S Triffitt, J Heggie. Replacements (all used): N Salisbury, S Harrison, S Emms.