MALTON & Norton rose into mid-table in North One East thanks to their 48-7 win at Wheatley Hills - but club spokesman Bill Laidler warned they were still not out of danger.

A bonus-point win against a side doomed to relegation was a must in Malton's fight against the drop, and that was in the bag as early as the 14th minute when the fourth try arrived.

Said Laidler: "There were several good individual performances in this display but it was teamwork which stood out in what was something of a one-sided affair.

"There are still some hard days ahead but this victory should give new confidence to face the task in front."

Malton took the lead in only the second minute after receiving the kick off.

Good ball retention got them to within five metres of the home line and, after Hills offended, George Harrison took a quick tap and crashed over.

Opening out straight from the restart, Tom Foan broke through the defence before passing on to fellow centre Nick Rangiuira who fended off several men as he ran in from 30 metres.

Xolela Payi added his first of four conversions and Malton were 12-0 up before Hills had touched the ball.

The hosts' large pack had the propensity to cause some problems in the set pieces, but keeping the ball alive and raising the tempo whenever possible was the answer and this paid dividends on eight minutes.

Slick handling in the pack took Malt up the touchline and flanker Tom Lowry skilfully sidestepped two defenders before giving full-back Payi the try.

The fourth try soon arrived as Malton, from their own half, mounted a series of drives led by number eight Ali Coe and second-row Ali Fothergill.

Wheatley scrambled the ball into touch but a good Coe take was fed to prop Rob Featherstone, who drove to within touching distance of the whitewash, quick ball seeing fly-half Vus Dyantjies cross.

Wheatley stemmed the tide and gained some parity in possession, getting their consolation just after the half-hour when a Malton scrum was disintegrated by the home giants, the referee awarding a penalty try.

Malt's reply was instant. Wing Tom Clark took the restart cleanly and made good ground. A penalty at the ruck was taken quickly and Coe crossed for a 31-7 interval lead.

The second half almost mirrored the first with Malton scoring three quick tries.

Regaining possession quickly after kicking off, they opened out to get to the home line where substitute scrum-half Paul Angus went through a gap.

The Coe made ground from a scrum, the ball being released to the backs where Fothergill took the scoring pass.

Malton's final score came on 50 minutes.

From a scrum in their own 22, they got the ball to the backs, with Payi showed his skills and pace to break to half way before sending fellow speedster Clark streaking home.