IT is always a pleasure for the Pirates to host Yardley & District at Spring Lane, especially as there have been some titanic confrontations between the two teams over the past few years.

MALVERN U16S Pirates 36pts, YARDLEY & DISTRICT 7pts

The visitors obviously thought that they could put in a big performance and started strongly by using their big pack to take the play to the home side.

Malvern soaked up the pressure and Yardley were forced to kick for territory. But the ball found the dependable hands of full-back David Morgans, who initiated a counter-attack from deep in the Malvern half that ended with centre Phil Shore powering over Yardley line. Tom Longley's kick added the bonus for a 7-0 lead.

Malvern began to play open, expansive rugby in ideal conditions and wingers Bert Davies and Giles Dawson had plenty of ball. Richard Pitt made an outstanding 20th minute break through the middle and popped the ball to his left, new signing Michael Chandler received the final pass to score his debut try in the corner. Longley's kick fell just short, but Malvern had clearly posted their intentions.

The Malvern back-row trio of Will Bowen, Ben Mason and David Wood took the ball on repeatedly and scrum half Ross Tolley snapped at the edges of the rucks before setting the backline into overdrive. But the Yardley defence remained well organised and although Malvern kept the visitors penned in the 22, the tries failed to materialise for the home side. Then on the stroke of half-time, Wood was released and powered his way over the line. But referee Rob Howell judged the ball to be held up and the score remained at 12-0 at the break.

The second half began badly for Malvern with a series of errors that earned the visitors a penalty. The kick forced Malvern to defend a five-metre line-out and a huge driving maul from Yardley, after winning the throw, secured a well-earned converted try to put them just five points behind.

After the restart Malvern were back on the attack. Play-maker Tom Longley rang the changes and Shore and Pitt in the centre were causing Yardley all sorts of problems. Jack Knowles' clever inside pass found the eager hands of Shore, who used his strength to power through the Yardley defence and score between the uprights. Longley converted.

Malvern were now in control and further scores were inevitable. Bert Davies scored in the corner and Richard Pitt collected a deserved try after chasing a probing kick from Longley.

Finally David Wood, the man-of-the-match, popped up on the end of the three-quarters move to take the final pass for the score, with Longley's long-range conversion sealing the 36-7 win.