MALVERN dominated as they defeated Pinley 22-6 to claim their fourth win in a row in Midlands Two West (South) on Saturday.
The match began poorly for the hosts at Spring Lane as Malvern conceded an early penalty for not retreating, but they quickly made amends.
Adam Dixon put up a kick which was chased down by Laurie Essenhigh on the wing as Malvern gained a scrum. The returning Ieuan Mustow made inroads before another Malvern scrum had Pinley going backwards and conceding a penalty.
The kick landed 20 metres from the visitors’ line, before the ball was secured and recycled to second row forward Grant Fraser, who reminded everyone he used to be a winger as he sped through to score.
The spirited Pinley side replied with a period of sustained pressure but the Malvern defence held firm and eventually won a scrum to clear their lines.
After a period of to and fro play, George Withers took the ball at speed and ran through the crowded midfield, before passing to Mustow who was halted at the five-metre line.
As the half drew to a close, Malvern won a series of three penalties and opted for a scrum each time. The Pinley pack buckled at each and, with the Coventry side being on a final chance before conceding a penalty try, Malvern chose to run the ball from the fourth scrum instead.
Joe Budd gave Dixon a quick ball and the fly half whipped it across the line for Mustow to score a well deserved try, which Ben King converted.
With the visitors a man down in the sin-bin, Malvern continued to pile on the agony as Mustow made a break and fed the ball to King, who in turn shipped it to Liam Roleston for the winger to power over.
Pinley again won a penalty, this time from 45 metres out, and the number 12’s kick made the score 17-6.
Malvern were looking fairly comfortable by this time though as Director of Rugby David Irish made some changes, bringing on Charles Rambridge and Will Clarke for Richard Hobbs and Stuart Clark.
The changes in the scrum did not faze Malvern as they continued to dominate and switch the ball around and sprightly veteran lock Dave Smith sealed the victory when he danced through to score out wide and claim the bonus point.
Malvern face a trip to leaders Banbury on Saturday, March 19.
LEDBURY and Upton both face away trips in the Midlands semi-finals of RFU cup competitions this Saturday.
Ledbury will travel to Corby to play Stewarts and Lloyds in the regional semi-finals of the RFU Senior Vase, while Upton will make the trip to Derbyshire to face Buxton in the RFU Junior Vase.
