MALVERN Rugby Club put their derby disaster behind them with a thrilling win over Walsall.

The Spring Lane side, who were soundly beaten by Luctonians last weekend, claimed their second league win of the season to get their campaign back on track.

Malvern started purposely but found themselves behind midway through the first half.

Mike Swingwood put the visitors on their way with a ninth minute penalty before the Walsall pack began to take control.

The heavy Walsall front five gave the Malvern pack plenty of trouble in the scrummage and with their driving mauls. It was from one of the latter that the Malvern defence became tied in and right winger Simon Motzkeit was put through for a 19th minute try.

Malvern, however, hit back and led by skipper and man of the match Vince Hill they were soon back in the game.

Scrum half George Blakeway made a trademark break, the forwards piled in behind him and won a five-metre scrum. Marc Gaubert picked up from the back and darted through to score.

Walsall were again stung into action and, seven minutes later, created the overlap for inside centre Richard Thomas to stretch their lead.

Malvern shifted up a gear and camped in the Walsall 22, forcing two penalties, the second of which saw prop James Daniell burrow through to score on the stroke of half time. Paul Jenkin converted as Malvern went in 13-12 down at the break.

Walsall came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second half but the defensive line, organised well by Gareth Richards, held up.

As the Malvern pack increased in confidence, Richards was on hand to recycle the ball and put right winger Rob Young in for a fine try to put the home side ahead for the first time in the match.

On the hour, Malvern switched the ball about after a scrum on the 22 and Richard Wylde's intelligent chip ahead saw Young again scorch through to score in style.

This was the signal for Walsall to put in a massive effort in the last quarter of the match, putting sustained pressure on the Malvern defence, which responded magnificently.

However, Swingwood's 65th minute penalty brought them back to 22-16 and still the surged forward, repelled by some excellent Malvern tackling.

Home supporters had their hearts in their mouths when Simon Reiter was sin binned and Walsall made the most of the extra man as Ben Shepherd went over to put them just one point behind.

With a minute to go, Swingwood stepped up for a 45-metre penalty attempt to snatch the win but Malvern heaved a sign of relief as the ball sailed wide.

"Although it wasn't our best performance, we stuck to the task through a tight first half," said skipper Hill.

"James Daniell's try on half time turned the game for us. We pinned Walsall down in the middle 40 minutes then held on in the last 20 for the win. The team spirit was great, with the lads showing great mental strength along with physical determination."

Director of rugby David Robins was delighted with the two points.

"Although our scrimmaging wasn't great, and I felt we moved the ball too slowly at times, to take Walsall's scalp is a plus," he said.

"I was pleased to see Chris Smith put in such a good performance, working like a Trojan all afternoon and securing some fine line out ball. Paul Hart is improving all the time at blindside and Marc Gaubert, although still struggling at less than full fitness, always gives us an edge. Our defence improved beyond recognition and Richard Wylde showed his class at full back although he is still getting used to our style. We had to dog it out in the last 10 minutes when we lost Simon Reiter.

"We missed crucial kicks which would have given us a comfort zone, so we will work on this area in training."