MALVERN SCUPPERED BY SCUNTHORPE
Scunthorpe 66 Malvern 13
After being delayed for over an hour by a serious motorway crash, Malvern were still mentally on the bus as a knock on from the kick off gave Scunthorpe a scrum from which they set off their dangerous Kiwi winger Vaimoso for an opening first minute try. This wake- up call spurred the Spring Lane side into action and they put in a series of penetrating moves to finally win a penalty, Robin Fransson slotting the ball over. However, Malvern were looking error-prone in their decision making and when the ball was kicked dead, the lively Scunthorpe backs scythed through some poor defending to score again. Fransson cut the deficit in the 16th minute with a mighty strike from 47 metres out and Malvern had a 15 minute purple patch, testing the Scunthorpe defence with some excellent drives followed by some good handling moves in the backs. With Scunthorpe appearing to wilt, Malvern won a scrum on the half hour and spread the ball wide for Ryan Watkins to go in at the corner and Fransson to put over the conversion from close to the touchline and to bring them back to only one point down. With Simon Daws well to the fore, Malvern again took the game to the Lincolnshire side, Adam Dixon breaking for the line but knocking on at the crucial moment. Malvern’s error prone defensive game let them down once more when an aimless kick which should have gone to touch and ended the half was gathered and run in to restore a six point home advantage.
The errors continued as Malvern restarted the game, the kick didn’t go 10 metres and Scunthorpe ran the ball in from the resulting scrum. Sensing victory, the home team kept running the ball at Malvern’s fragile back line and also utilised to slope to advantage with a shrewd kicking game. With the Malvern half backs uncharacteristically quiet and the forwards struggling in the set piece as injuries kicked in, the home team went for the jugular and ran in 47 unanswered points as Malvern crumbled, having used all their replacements and losing another to injury with 20 minutes left. The away side’s 14 men couldn’t contain a Scunthorpe team so full of confidence and it was a relief to hear the final whistle. Having put in some excellent defensive performances in the previous two games, the Malvern side’s capitulation was hard for the players and travelling support to take. With no recognised tight head, the pack was less solid, the half backs were under pressure all game and forced into errors and the back line was guilty of some poor tackling. Having said that, it was “one of those days when nothing went right” and much can be addressed on the training field. With another tough away fixture at second placed South Leicester this Saturday, Malvern will be looking for a much more solid display against a side that has recruited strongly since last season and has promotion aspirations.
