MALTON & Norton put in their worst performance of the season against an average Durham City side – losing their North One East clash 22-7.

Depleted by injuries to key men, Malt were fortunate to gain the consolation of a losing bonus point but they plunged down the table and will have to raise their game in the coming weeks to avoid a relegation battle.

Durham were first out of the traps after five minutes when the home side were penalised for entering a ruck from the wrong position. The kick to the corner produced a lineout five metres out and a catch and drive produced the opening try.

Five minutes later, Durham added to the tally when Malton were again penalised for offside, the ball sailing between the posts to make it 8-0.

Malton's forwards had the upper hand in the scrums and this brought the hosts back into the game midway through the half.

A series of scrums ten metres from the visitors' line had the defence stretched and number eight Sam Triffitt picked up and drove towards the line. The pack got behind him and the ball reached hooker Jim Thornton who was credited with the try.

Similar circumstances produced the next score. Malton opted to pack down rather than a kick at goal, and a series of scrums moved menacingly towards the line only to collapse each time.

On the fourth occasion, the referee awarded Malton a penalty try and Luke Raduva’s conversion gave them a 12-8 lead.

Malt should have changed up a gear but instead lapsed into mediocrity, needlessly handing over possession at crucial times through poor handling and decision making.

Durham were hungrier and took advantage of home errors. A lineout on Malton's line was initially won by the hosts but they inexplicably lost possession at the resultant maul.

The visitors quickly set their three-quarters in motion and they crossed in the corner, an excellent conversion putting City 15-12 up.

Deep into first-half injury-time Malton fell further behind.

A Durham scrum in midfield appeared to pose no problem as the home pack again pushed their opponents back. But the alert number eight picked up and broke through flimsy defence to race under the posts for the killer try. The conversion brought a half-time score of 22-12.

Harsh words were spoken in the Malton camp during the interval but those words seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as the team struggled to come to terms with the situation, and the only highlight of the half was a score after 18 minutes, once more coming from the forwards.

A number of pick and drives close to the line ended when prop Ben Boothman got the touch down to give Malton the losing bonus point.