A TRY bonus point was the only reward Malton could salvage from their 41-24 defeat to Cleckheaton as their injury hoodoo again struck with a vengeance.

They lost skipper Sam Triffitt after five minutes of the North One East clash with a shoulder injury, and full back Zweli Sodladla midway through the second half with concussion. Both now face lengthy periods on the sidelines.

The first ten minutes were an indicator of what was to come, with Malton trying to keep the ball in hand while Cleckheaton relied on the cultured boot of their fly half Mike Swetman to keep them in the attacking zone.

Honours were just about even until Malton infringed at a ruck and that boot sent the ball between the posts for the lead.

Six minutes later, that boot again did the damage.

After several phases of pick and drive, a neat kick behind the Malton defence was perfectly weighted for right wing Pat Foulstone to pick up in full stride to cross for the first try and an 8-0 lead.

Malton at this stage were competing well but the visitors' defence was sound, and long relieving kicks kept the pressure on the home defence.

When Malton were penalised for handling in a ruck, an accurate kick to the corner produced the second try for flanker Brad Marsden following an unstoppable catch and drive.

Shortly after this score, Cleckheaton lost scrum half Jack Bickerdike to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle, but before Malton could capitalise on the extra man, another kick through the home defence was hacked on for an third try, with Foulstone claiming his second score.

This time the Swetman conversion was successful, and Malton had a mountain to climb.

That fightback started on the half-hour.

From a set scrum just inside the visitors' half, a well-rehearsed move in the Malton backs produced the try.

Good handling between fly half Luke Raduva and centre Nick Rangiuira got the ball to Sodladla, who broke through the defence for his side's first try, making the half-time score 20-5.

If Malton could eradicate some of the needless handling errors, they were still capable of getting something from the game.

Those hopes were raised from the restart, with a number of excellent forward drives taking them deep into the visitors' half.

Eventually the backs received the ball and Rangiuira was held just short of the line but No 8 Ali Coe was on hand to take the pass and cross to narrow the deficit.

However, the visitors struck back immediately when they took full advantage of some poor Malton defending to break straight through, with replacement hooker James Crowther scoring with his first touch of the ball to extend the lead to 27-12.

For the next ten minutes, the boot of fly half Swetman caused Malton all sorts of problems.

From a line-out just into the Malton half, a perfect crossfield kick found replacement winger Ronan Evans in acres of space to cross, also with his first touch, to bring the score to 34-12.

Five minutes later, the visitors' backs showed their paces when good ball from a line-out was spread wide and a try resulted in the corner for Mikey Hayward to bring the score to 41-12, with Malton facing total humiliation.

As in previous weeks. however, Malton then rose to the occasion.

When Swetman was shown a yellow card for another dangerous tackle, Malton took full advantage.

A tap penalty produced a series of drives, and when the ball was finally released to the backs, good play between Raduva and wing Tom Foan gave the latter the opportunity to romp over.

James Bulmer's conversion narrowed the gap to 41-19, and for the next 15 minutes it was all Malton as they battled to gain parity.

However, it was not until the final minute that they finally struck. Another good series of drives had the visitors scrambling, and when the ball got into the hands of Ali Fothergill, there was only one thing on his mind.

His persistence and strength got him to the line for Malton's bonus- point try and a more respectable final score of 41-24.

Injuries are hitting Malton hard at present, and with a difficult trip to Alnwick on Saturday they will have to dig deep if they are to gain anything from the trip.

Malton: Z Sodladla; T Foan, V Dyantjies, N.Rangiuira, P Angus; L Raduva, J Bulmer; R Featherstone, L Welch, N Salisbury, A Fothergill, W Hughes, C Corner, S Triffitt, A Coe. Replacements (all used): A Mitchell, J Bulmer, S Emms.