Malton and Norton have now established themselves as Yorkshire Three promotion favourites after seeing off one of their nearest challengers in a hard-fought battle at The Gannock.

With other promotion hopefuls Leeds Corinthians and Otliensians both losing there is now daylight between the top two of Malton and Heath and the chasing pack.

Malton's game plan was to move the ball wide and away from the huge Stocksbridge pack, who have carried all before this season.

From the kick-off Malton moved into scoring territory and were awarded a penalty which Ian Cooke converted.

Almost from the restart Malton scored again when the ball was spun wide and full back Cooke entered the line to cross for a try which he converted to put Malton 10-0 ahead after only three minutes.

Stocksbridge rallied and set up camp near Malton's line. Using their superior weight and strength they attempted to batter through the home defence but were held at bay and at times driven back.

Malton were unlucky not to add to their score when Ian Mansell was set free on the right wing. The covering defence forced him into touch within sight of the line.

Malton's pack were revelling in the scrap and matched the Stocksbridge giants in almost every department.

Such was the tenacity of the home eight that the visitors became rattled and their No 8 forward was sin-binned.

The second period saw Stocksbridge again try to out muscle Malton through the pack, but there was no way through until a lapse allowed wing Simon Kippax to briefly get his side back into the game with an unconverted try.

But apart from this one effort the visitors never looked like scoring despite having most of the territorial advantage.

Malton extended the lead when, from a quick throw in, the ball was swiftly transferred to Mansell who scorched over for his side's second try.

At this stage the visitors' forwards were beginning to wilt and the game became littered with stoppages, breaking up any pattern of play.

Malton battled away and gained just reward when they were awarded another penalty for Cooke to convert and put the game out of reach of Stocksbridge.

Nobody expected a classic encounter against a side playing nine man rugby but the large crowd were kept on their toes with some very spirited play from the Malton side.

Again it was a fine team performance with every man giving 110 per cent.

James McKay was the HSBC man of the match for a tremendous display in the back row. Phil Ryan put himself about physically and Andy Mitchell, with some ferocious tackling, produced his best performance since he has gained a regular place in the side.

Updated: 11:56 Monday, March 18, 2002