THE day began with a gesture of generosity from the Malvern RFC membership when BBC Hereford and Worcester's Dave Bradley accepted a cheque for £1000 towards the Tsunami appeal.

MALVERN 54PTS, ASTON OLD EDWARDIANS 3PTS

However, the Malvern players showed no such charity on the field as they took on an under-strength but plucky Aston side.

The away fixture had seen last season's North Midlands Cup winners take a point from Malvern, so the Spring Lane side were keen to exact revenge.

On an afternoon which got wetter and muddier, the conditions were not going to be the best for an open game of rugby - it was a day for the forwards to show their skills and the Malvern pack did not disappoint the crowd.

After conceding a first minute penalty, the Malvern side quickly set about its business, pushing Aston back at the first scrum after Nick Major had made a sortie into away territory.

Scrum-half Julien Davies, at his feisty best at the base of the scrum, made some telling breaks and fly-half Dave King's grubber kick put Malvern deep into the Aston half. Malvern won a penalty which Longley missed, mainly due to some collective madness from Aston, who charged the kick when they should have stood still. The full-back made no mistake with the retake.

Having bedded in, Malvern started to run the ball despite the greasy conditions. After a move involving five players, Eastwood made a break, linking up with King who fed Nigel Richardson for his first try in Malvern colours. Longley bagged the extra two points and Malvern were on their way, adding a penalty to the first half total.

After the break, the Malvern pack decided to embark on practicing their driving and rolling mauls. First they sucked in the defence to allow the ball to be spun to Major for a converted try, before putting in a succession of controlled drives which reaped four tries in a 15 minute spell, including a debut score for Phil Rawle. The home forwards opened up play for the last two scores, a moment of wizardry from prop Shaun Lancett putting him in for a try worthy of a centre, then hooker Alex Wenden completed the day's proceedings with a the final score from another catch and drive move.

Malvern's points difference was assisted greatly by the score, which also showed a new ruthless streak.

"It's all too easy to open up a bit of a lead then sit back on your laurels," said Lancett. "However, we know that this league is going to go to the wire, as illustrated by Burton dropping a point. We need to pile on the points, which could make all the difference at the end of the season, whether for winner's spot or ground advantage at play-off stage."

Malvern's director of rugby Dave Robins kept in touch with events from his temporary base in New Zealand. He was satisfied with the result, but insisted that his team must keep focused until the end of the campaign. "It's OK concentrating on the bigger fixtures, but there are plenty of banana skins amongst the lower-placed sides, some of whom are showing good form."

Malvern's first XV have a rest tomorrow (Saturday) before preparing for the away trip to bottom-placed Nuneaton OEs the following Saturday (February 19).