Yarnbury 26 Malton & Norton 31

DESPITE being without unavailable three-quarters Paul Angus and Zweli Sodladla and prop Ed Gwilliam, Malton & Norton's hard-earned bonus point win has at the very least secured them an end-of-season play-off match against the runners-up from Durham & Northumberland Division One.

The replacements for the trio proved to be more than adequate, however, showing the strength in depth of the squad as victory meant that third-placed Bridlington now cannot catch them.

Yarnbury had the bigger pack but the co-ordinated visiting eight bossed proceedings, No 8 Josh Heggie picking up at the base of a scrum and driving over for the game's first try after six minutes.

Ian Cooke converted and added a penalty five minutes later for 10-0 after Yarnbury were again penalised at a ruck.

Yarnbury, still flirting with the relegation zone, were never going to submit easily, however, and, mid-way through the half, kicked a penalty into the corner.

Malton resisted the catch and drive but when the home side spun the ball wide, a mixture of strong running and a couple of missed tackles produced a try in the corner, which was converted.

Ten minutes later, the visitors showed what they could do.

Fielding a Yarnbury kick, Malton opened out, and slick handling and decisive running took them to ten metres from the home line, the forwards then setting up a drive for replacement lock Sean Emms to score, Cooke adding the conversion for 17-7.

Five minutes later, the visitors were at it again, Emms regaining possession for them from a line-out on the Yarnbury 22, and prop Ben Boothman being driven over for Cooke to convert and make the half-time score 24-7.

Malton's defence has been pretty watertight this season.

However, their enforced changes and shuffling of positions made them vulnerable to a side that hit them hard in the second half, and two converted tries pulled the Leeds hosts back to 24-21 after an hour.

Malton were on tenterhooks, but the suffering was relieved five minutes later after a forward drive was held up over the line, prop Rob Featherstone going over from the resulting scrum for Cooke's conversion to stretch the advantage to ten points.

All the visitors had to do was hold out to claim victory, but Yarnbury's catch-and-drive from a penalty in injury time not only brought them a losing bonus point but also a bonus point for a fourth try.

Malton have three games of the normal season left and can begin to prepare for the promotion play-off game on Saturday, April 30.

As things stand at the moment, that would be Middlesbrough away. On Saturday, Malton entertain Scarborough.

Malton: I Cooke; C Stark, V Dyantjies, C Ramsay, B Woodhouse; N Daley, J Bulmer; R Featherstone, J Thornton, B Boothman, J Rounthwaite, J Lumley, A Coe, J Heggie, S Triffitt. Replacements (all used): N Salisbury, S Harrison, S Emms.