WITH four injuries in key positions, including the loss of pack cornerstone and skipper Matt Richardson, the omens were not good for the visit of second-placed Hinckley.

MALVERN 14PTS, HINCKLEY 32PTS

The Leicestershire side came out of the blocks at full tilt and put Malvern under pressure from the whistle. Malvern weathered the early storm and took the game back to the visitors, Anderson going on a run and winning the penalty. Although Longley's kick was just short, he quickly had the chance to make amends as Hinckley went offside at the lineout and he made sure of the opening three points.

However, the Malvern scrum, so solid over the season, looked vulnerable against a well-drilled Hinckley tight five. James Hynes, valiantly stepping in as emergency prop, gave his all, but the experienced visiting front row was more than a match. Hooker Alex Wenden had an uncomfortable time and Malvern were unable to give enough of a platform to let the back row and half backs loose.

Hinckley pressed in the home 22 area, penalties were conceded until the referee gave a penalty try, which was converted, for persistent offending. Stand off Frith then increased the lead with a drop goal in the 21st minute, with Malvern replying through a Longley penalty after Uzoigwe had made a break. Hinckley failed with two penalty attempts as they continued to put Malvern under pressure, and though the Spring Lane side tried to claw their way back into the game, the lack of dominance up front meant they couldn't produce the space for Davies and King to make the plays.

The second half saw Hinckley step up a gear, sensing that they could best the league leaders and 10 minutes into the half opened up gaps in the Malvern defence to run in a well worked try from Lennox, Frith converting.

Desperate to stay in touch, Malvern harried Hinckley from the restart and won a penalty which Longley slotted over to claw the score back to 9-17. This only served to spur Hinckley on and a driving maul took them over the line for Phil Massarella to score and Frith to convert to put Hinckley out of sight after an hour. Malvern were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty try for deliberate obstruction before Hinckley full back Warner got onto the score sheet.

Malvern at last breached the visitors' line with a couple of minutes left, spreading the ball wide for Nick Smith to run in to score, but Frith had the last word with his second drop goal of the day.