MALVERN finally found their form as they took Standard of Birmingham to the wire in this close-run league match.

MALVERN HC 0, STANDARD 2

Malvern were able to field a stronger squad with an impressive performance from James Styles, in his debut at centre back, and from Chris Edwards and James Boocock.

Malvern started brightly with some neat passing hockey. The first ten minutes saw Malvern firmly entrenched in Standard's half.

Good wing play from Gerwyn Legg and Leigh Robinson kept the ball moving from one side to the other. At the heart of the attack John Forecast and Adam Taylor showed quality movement, but the final ball could not be found.

Standard began to settle and started to counter attack, forcing Malvern to pull men back.

Malvern's best first half attack came from a through ball from Robinson to Taylor, who found himself on a one on one with Standard's veteran goal keeper. Taylor rounded the keeper but the ball just caught the keeper's outstretched stick.

Immediately Standard counter attacked and found Malvern with only two back in defence. With a three man overlap Standard capitalised with Adrian Baker collecting a ball on the back post for a simple tap in.

The second half saw Malvern come out with a renewed confidence. The first half had belonged to Malvern who had created the most opportunities. Again Malvern attacked in numbers, strong midfield work from Ben Fieldhouse and Chris Edwards made the early running as again Malvern pinned Standard back.

The last 20 minutes saw Malvern begin to tire and Standard began to press their advantage. James Styles, Gerwyn Legg, Ian Braim and Dan Kelly battled on bravely in the Malvern defence.

With two minutes to go the inevitable happened. A string of passes around the Malvern D found an opening in the defences, an accurate through ball was met with a thumping finish from Standard's Chris Walker, putting the game beyond Malvern's reach.

Man of the match went to Jim Boocock in the Malvern goal.

Malvern are currently looking for new players, for more information contact club captain Leigh Robinson on 07903 538552 (m).

Tomorrow (Saturday) Malvern are away to West Bromwich.