Malton & Norton Exit Cup defeated by Goule 33-22

Ghoul may have been demoted from Region 2 Northeast, but the collision with Malton has proven close, with Rydoll side winning both matches with a total of 11 points.

And they showed why they shouldn't be underestimated as they fought slow comebacks from the hosts to seal the progress of the competition.

Visitors kicked off towards town on the hard surface of sun-soaked bones, and Malton earned an early scoring opportunity after being returned with interest by Dylan Jones.

With the defending fullback fully equipped, he gave a 20m penalty in front of the stick, but inexplicably declined the point offered, and instead the ball was kicked into the corner, driving the catch and event.

It drove Goule to life, and they attacked with the Malton Line, but pressure finally told them when they added the first seven points to the board.

Visitors doubled the lead in 11 minutes from the scrum after the Malton midfielder fired a highball on the dead ball line and adjusted the simple run-in of one of the props.

Malton was written on his half and Ghoul had enough of his back, and the scoreboard was checked again after six minutes as the chipkick was returned with interest again.

Malton coach Alex Crockett in his frustration brought out both props and halfbacks, introducing youngster Theo Hogard to the nine-year-old, moving Jones to the 10 and taking Jack Dayton to the wing. Ben Boothman rolled onto the pitch with Dan Coe as an alternative prop.

It brought about improvements, but despite spending five minutes on half the visitors, the lack of ideas, accuracy and penetration meant it didn't pay off.

Malton lost fullback Rufus Pegram 30 minutes later with an ankle injury and forced another switch from the back row to see Ali Fothergill take over his normal 15 and Byron Marshall at 6am.

However, their new acquaintance halfbacks began to gel quickly, and in the 36th minute they paved the way for Ko to pull back five points.

And two minutes later, Hogard showed his pace, shaking his way past several defenders from 30 meters and setting up the booth man.

Malton carried that pressure into the second half, but was not paid despite spending five minutes camping at the edge of the ghoul.

Instead, out of nowhere, the visitor released the man widely, and he ran to the other side effectively, extending his lead another seven points.

Worse, Malton's 15 allowed the highball to bounce off the future catcher and bounce into the arms of a ghoul player who waltzed the line and scored a score of 33-12.

It would always be a tall order as the host tried to return it, but they tried to do it with an attempt from Boothman and Paul Angus at 58 and 61 minutes respectively.

But they proved their only response as Ghoul progressed in a 33-22 victory.

Two weeks later, Malton's second team will face the Harencia in the East Yorkshire Merritt League Grand Finals.