MALVERN 46PTS,

NEWPORT 12PTS

THE in-form Newport side, unbeaten in their league this year and supplemented by a contingent of Fijian soldiers, came to Spring Lane hunting for a prize scalp.

Instead they were hit by an awesome display of power from the home pack that effectively ended the competition by half time.

Clinical in the line-out and scrum, Malvern dominated in the forwards, giving the backs plenty of possession to show their ability.

With several regulars unavailable, Owain Wynne made his first start of the season, whilst Ian White came in at scrum half for his first senior game for two years since a serious ankle injury. He soon made his presence felt, sniping away round the fringes and taking on the Newport back row to great effect.

A debutant in the truest sense was Ejike Uzoigwe, soon known as Edgy to his teammates. An instant success, his support play was outstanding and he proved to be yet another fine advertisement for Hartpury College rugby.

Andy Longley joined the casualty list, suffering a groin strain in the warm-up, being replaced by Richard Fleming.

Rob Young opened the scoring with a try after cutting across field, this a taster for Steve Ott's try a few minutes later when he fed off Eastwood. Ott then showed his kicking prowess and slotted the conversion himself.

With the pack putting Newport under pressure on their own line, the referee awarded Malvern a penalty try for deliberate scrum-collapse. Dave King, playing his last game for a month due to a trip home to Australia, ghosted his way through the Newport defence for his obligatory score.

Newport hit back with a try during a rare escape into Malvern territory, then Eastwood's cleverly angled run put Malvern 31-5 up at the break.

To their credit, Newport came back strongly in the second half, pinning Malvern back for long spells, working a good try under the posts. Apart from that, the Malvern defence remained sound and the home side fought back. John Martin, full of running, added to the tally, Ott (a find in kicking terms) put over a penalty, then Young ended as he had began, his try and Ott's conversion sealing a good victory.

David Robins, director of rugby, was pleased that his side had avoided the potential banana skin during this cup-tie.

Robins said: "Newport showed plenty of spirit and no little skill, giving our lads a good work out. I'm equally delighted that the strength in depth of the squad has meant we can bring in high calibre replacements as we did today. That is a tribute to our coaches.

"We now face Newbold at home, a notoriously hard side to play against, with a tendency to keep it tight in the Warwickshire fashion. Getting the ball from them is a bit like opening an oyster, so a real tussle is expected."

Kick off tomorrow (Saturday) is at 3pm at Spring Lane.