MALVERN came back to top form with a vengeance at Castlecroft last Saturday, ending a spell of indifferent performances with a bang in this Midlands Two West fixture.

Coach Rudy Smith had been working the players hard in training, instilling a game plan to conquer the keen young Wolves side, and the player stuck to it admirably.

The back row in particular dominated the play, the sheer aggression of Steve Taylor plus the vigour of Alex Thomas keeping the Wolves playmakers on the back foot, whilst the returning Paul Hart at number eight put in some crucial runs and tackles. Pack leader Vince Hill ensured that his forwards kept driving up the channel and Jon Owen cleaned up in the line out whilst the front row of Cooper, Allies and Handy were lively and invigorated.

Andy Longley opened the scoring with a 16th minute penalty, then two minutes later Dan Sparrey went on the blind side at a scrum, the ball went to winger Ben Hughes who chipped ahead and left his opposite number flat-footed to score a fine try. Longley converted and put over two more penalties as Wolverhampton were made to pay for defensive errors forced by the close attentions of the Malvern back row and hard tackling centres Gareth Richards and Jim Callow.

On the occasions that the home side put together any attacks, debutante stand off Mark Moaby was on hand, and his excellent kicking to touch proved a bonus in a fine all round performance.

On the half hour a classic piece of Malvern running rugby saw the ball moved across the line for Rob Young to score and Longley to convert. Just before the break Hughes and the ever-busy Taylor set up Dan Sparrey, who jinked his way through a bemused defence to score, Longley's extra two giving a 30 point margin at the break.

It was still all Malvern in the second half, the young Wolves side putting up a creditable defensive performance as wave after wave of Malvern's attacks hit them. Two more Longley penalties punished some panicky defending and Malvern were running rampant, props Cooper and Allies showing their athleticism whilst Handy, having had a dislocated elbow mended on the spot, looked every-youthful and scored the final Malvern try.

At the death Wolves scored a consolation try, but Malvern had consolidated their lead at the top.

David Robins, Director of Rugby, was pleased with the performance, saying: "Our best since Christmas, with every single member of the team focussed on the task in hand. It's unfair to single out individuals, but Mark Moaby was excellent on his first XV league debut, whilst Dan Sparrey came good with his best showing to date. The forwards were awesome, whilst the backs destroyed Wolverhampton in a scintillating first half. We can start thinking about promotion seriously from now on if we continue in this vein."

Tomorrow (Saturday) Malvern visit Lichfield in the League (2.30pm) and on Sunday travel to Midlands West Four (South) leaders Droitwich in the North Mids Cup (2pm).