Malton and Norton 20 Yarnbury 15

A LATE try from the league leaders sentenced lowly Yarnbury to another Yorkshire One defeat.

It was tough on the battling Horsforth outfit who persevered with the side that managed to throw away a victory at Halifax in their previous match.

Malton took the game to Yarnbury from the start with South African full back Zweli Sodladla keeping them pinned in their 22 with his accurate kicking.

The early pressure brought a fifth-minute try from Malton captain Sam Triffitt.

Yarnbury lost stand off Danny Pound early on so Stephen Riley took over with Graham Maycock moving to centre alongside replacement Connor Moreton.

Ellis Gomersall was just forced into touch after one good run as Yarnbury put the home side under pressure.

Yarnbury were giving the home side plenty to think about, but they suffered a setback right at the start of the second half.

Malton prop Rob Featherstone escaped down the blindside from close in to establish a 10-0 lead.

Good pressure from Yarnbury gave their full back Kieran Davis a chance to put them on the board with a penalty.

Malton’s other prop Ben Boothman crashed for a third unconverted try and with the home side showing dominance in the scrum it looked like an uphill task for Yarnbury.

It said much for their team spirit that they did not buckle. Jimmy Cryan made good ground from the back of a scrum and set up a ruck which resulted in the ball being spun out quickly by Riley and Graham Maycock to winger Gomersall.

He had little room to move with but used his strength to shrug off his opposite number and score a fine try which Will Davies converted.

This was Yarnbury’s best spell in the second half as they stretched the home defence with their running game.

Their spirit was epitomised by young right winger Eddie Childs dumping the much bigger Malton second row on his back.

Yarnbury drew level with ten minutes to go with a team try. The pack made good ground from a penalty and substitute Russ Gomersall slipped a quick pass to Cryan who held off two tacklers to score the try.

Their joy was cut short when Malton's replacement stand off slipped their defence to score the winning try.

There was a further blow for battling Yarnbury when Riley was injured in the closing minutes and could miss Saturday's re-arranged home game with North Ribblesdale.

Yarnbury Hornets achieved an impressive victory at Morley 2nds in their league clash with two tries for centre Tom Barnes and others from stand off George Oldridge and winger George Matthews. The Rifles won their league encounter 35-12 against Leeds Medics and Dentists 2nds and the fourth side lost 24-19 to Heath 3rds.