MALVERN’S 100 per cent winning record in Midlands Two West (South) was brought to an end on Saturday as they were narrowly edged out 23-22 by visiting Silhillians.
The second-from-bottom visitors drew first blood as they forced over an unconverted try.
Malvern responded immediately as Rob Cook kicked a penalty before Silhillians restored their five-point advantage.
A period of to and fro rugby followed but Malvern finally managed to work the ball out of defence and Cook hit a devastating line to carve through to score and convert to give his side the lead.
Again Silhillians hit back strongly and they won a penalty to claim a one point lead at the interval.
From the restart an interception during a Silhillians attack allowed Cook to put in a stunning 70 metre run to score and convert.
This gave the hosts some confidence, and in the finest move of the match, Ieuan Mustow broke and interchanged passes with Conor Giggle for the winger to score for an 11-point cushion.
However, this did not faze Silhillians as they pushed forward to touch down for another unconverted try to bring them to within six points.
As the clock ran down, the visitors won a scrum in the corner and scored another unconverted try to reduce the deficit to one point.
The difficult conversion was expertly executed and as the ball sailed between the posts, the referee blew for full-time.
Malvern, who are out of action this weekend, will hope to return to winning ways on Saturday, November 25 when they make the trip to Berkers Butts.