Colts progress to 2nd round of Yorks Plate

Malton 5 v Aireborough

Aire were still smarting from their narrow defeat at York the previous week and were under instruction to improve decision making and be more clinical. Aire welcomed back scrum half Spencer Wood back the squad after missing 3 weeks due to the concussion protocol.

Malton started with the wind and slope and both teams tentatively probed in the early exchanges. It was Malton who gained the first territorial advantage and a series of drives saw them set up in Aire's 22; however skipper Eddie Farnell was quickest at the breakdown to jackal for an important turn over and clearance by no 9 Elliott Bunn. Aire then began to string some phases together and the big ball carriers punched their way into Maton's 22m and an infringement led to a shot at goal. Full back Jack Dawson stepped up, but the kick shaved the outside of the post and Malton breathed a sigh of relief. The respite was temporary because the drop out was fielded and a further set of drives put Aire into the red zone. The ball was shipped to Jamie Pedley who showed strength and agility to score his debut Aire try in the corner to make it 0-5.

The re-start wasn't gathered and Aire invited further pressure and Malton's back & forwards combined and threatened Aire's defensive line. A dink over the top was read by stand off Harvey Sellers, who popped the ball to Sammy for an important clearance.

Aire then began to exert some pressure and found themselves within Malton's 10m and set up field position with a ruck on the right. Quick ball was fizzed out and sharp, crisp and accurate passing beat the tracking defence and Sammy scored a peach in the corner. Jack Dawson stepped up and his pinpoint kick bisected the sticks. Teams are often vulnerable after scoring and this applied to Aire who fudged the re-start and were under the pump in their own 22m. Malton poured forward and benefited from a spilled ball to race in to make it 5-12.

New signing hooker Alex Currie was playing his best game in an Aire shirt, before a rush of blood at a tap penalty saw him see yellow for not retreating.

Flanker Ethan Heede has returned hungry this season and had been in the eye line of Malton's back line on several occasions. From a lineout e made the most of a looped pass to the stand off, who took his eye off the ball. Sammy hacked through and scored right of the sticks which was notched over 5-19.

Aire were good for the lead at half time and full of expectation to kick on in the 2nd stanza; however this didn't materialise. The experimental change of personnel at 9,10 &12 didn't pay off and fluency / momentum was somewhat lost. Credit to Malton who came out fighting and they had the lions share in the 2nd half. Whilst Aire's backs weren't entirely functioning, the forwards were still doing the dirty work and neutralised Malton's attacking threat. There was to be a 2 further yellow cards for Aire, but credit the defence that stood firm for 25 mins with a player down.

The 2nd half was rather dour and wasn't much of a spectacle, but Aire did enough to grind out the win & proceed to the next round. Winning ugly is still winning and the lads should gain confidence from the fact they responded to the game plan and saw out the win.

There were some solid performances, but Malton coach nominated Callum Diamond as being Aire's MOM.