MALTON and Norton were yet again the authors of their own downfall as they were beaten 22-17 at Huddersfield YMCA.

The game started badly when Huddersfield won a scrum after three minutes 20 metres out from the Malton line.

A pick up and run by the No 8 forward went undetected by the Malton back row and he strode over for a simple converted try.

Five minutes later, YMCA doubled their lead when a poor Malton clearance kick failed to find its mark and was run back by the home side right wing.

His strong burst took him to within a few metres of the line where a ruck was formed and the ball was quickly recycled to the left where a massive overlap set up a try for the left wing.

Malton then sprang to life and quick lineout ball from Foster led to their first try. John Dobson did well to keep the ball alive, and a quick switch allowed Elliott Richardson who crossed for Ian Cooke to convert.

Malt reduced the gap early in the second period when skipper Chris Creber made a defence splitting break before setting right wing Tom Pateman free to score in the corner.

A penalty restored the home side's five-point advantage, Dobson levelling then the scores with a try.

But two defensive errors allowed Huddersfield to gain the winning score with little time left on the clock.