MALTON & Norton RUFC battled to the end but fell 31-10 to Morley in North One East - leaving them looking over their shoulders again in a topsy-turvy league.

They also suffered the big blow of losing goalkicker Paul Angus for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

With five games left, Malton - despite having the fewest try-bonus and losing-bonus points of anyone outside the bottom two - remain in the congested mid-section of the table where only 11 points separate fifth from 10th.

However, they are only 11 points above third-bottom West Leeds ahead of Saturday's visit of sixth-placed Percy Park.

Spokesman James Knock said: "Percy Park do not as a rule travel well and a good result would be the perfect fillip for this hard-working, relatively young outfit who week in week out try their hearts outs and deserve a mid-table position at season's end."

Malton kicked off and within two minutes scrum-half Angus departed with a repeat of the injury that saw him miss a vital chunk of fixtures earlier in the season.

Malton reorganised with skipper Sam Triffit going to nine,Will Hughes to eight and Charlie Read off the bench to seven.

Morley showed early intent with a powerful scrum and, following a penalty, moved the ball to the right wing where they scampered over for a converted try.

Malton absorbed the pressure from an organised Morley back division and on 20 minutes showed their own potential with a fine break by the powerful Ben Tenge.

The vital support was just several metres short on that occasion but, minutes later, Malton's Yorkshire U20s ace, Will Hughes, opened his team's account with a typical strong run to the whitewash.

However, four minutes later, a penalty for a high tackle was converted by Morley, and, on 38 minutes a quick tap penalty led to a converted try to make it 17-5.

Malton regathered and, driving to their opponents' line, gained a penalty in front of the sticks.

However, with half-time imminent, the three points were ignored, a tap taken and the ball eventually lost.

Half-time words injected some vigour into the Malton pack and the fresh legs of Ted Hughes and Adam Thompson improved the performance, with all eight forwards lifting their game.

They became camped for the third quarter in Morley's half.

However, cutting edge was missing, despite valiant efforts by Malt's back division.

Instead, on a rare visit to Malton's half, Morley struck from a scrum with a simple dummy opening the gap for a try and coversion on the hour.

Malton fought on and eventually, a minute into stoppage time, following two penalties and phase ball on Morley's line, prop Rob Featherstone barged over for his 11th try of the season.

However, the conversion was missed and Morley closed proceedings two minutes later when a tired defence let them through for a converted try, the hosts duly gaining revenge for Malt's 33-29 victory the last time the teams met.