Home setback for Brods

The visitors, who climbed to second, were deserved winners and Brods needed a late try from Alex Dawson to salvage a losing bonus point.

Brods kicked off down the slope in excellent conditions and the visitors began a series of pick and drives which took them deep into Brods territory.

On seven minutes Malton opened the scoring when No 8 Josh Heggie crashed over from a catch and drive at the lineout.

Brods responded well and within two minutes Dan Wood had kicked a penalty to make it 3-5.

The sides were well matched, Malton driving through their forwards and Brodleians clearing with well placed kick.

Malton struck again after 25 minutes with a well worked move from their backs. A searing break by Elton Djantjies was supported by David Cooke, who exchanged passes with Nick Daley before crossing in the corner for a 3-12 scoreline.

Substitutes Manu Tusiga and Callum Thompson came on and Brods started to assert themselves offensively. A well worked move saw the bell moved left and Dominic Georgiou showed pace and strength to beat three defenders to touch down wide out.

The conversion was missed and Malton fullback Zwelakhe Sodladla kicked a penalty for a half time score of 8-15.

A Malton fumble handed Brods good field position and James Marshall’s strong running paved the way for Manu to finish. Wood’s conversion levelled the scores.

The momentum was with Brods and they launched a series of attacks on the Malton line through their forwards.

James Thornton was sin-binned and Wood kicked Brods into the lead but being reduced to 14 appeared to galvanise the visitors and Malton won a series of scrums and established good field position.

A determined and sustained forward attack resulted in Rob Featherstone crossing from two metres out near the posts.

Sodladla converted and added a penalty for a high tackle to make it 18-25.

The home pack was visibly tiring and further pressure from the visitors gave Featherstone his second try on 70 minutes, Sodladla’s kick putting more daylight between the teams.

Brods refused to let their heads drop. Following good handling by their backs in defence, manu raced 65 metres to score under the posts and Wood converted.

A 40 metre Sodladla penalty made it 22-35 but Brods launched a series of attacks and Dawson used his power to touch down in the corner.

Brods travel to Scarborough on Saturday.