Malvern roar back to form

Still buzzing from last week's win over Burton, and with the addition of Dave Merlin, the signs looked good early on as Malvern battled Barkers, and the elements.

All the early pressure came from the home side and a lineout, stolen by youngster Matt Williams, eventually saw Simon Phillips run in for the first try of the afternoon.

Merlin provided an immense springboard from the base of the scrum, and with runs from Cooper and Rob Young, Malvern were firmly in charge.

Deep

Barkers reeling from the early blow struggled to get momentum, and soon a catch and drive deep in the Barkers' 22 metre zone saw a barrel chested Sean Lancett take five players over the line for his first try for Malvern.

Malvern rode their luck, and defended well with the away side's best chance to score in the first half limited to two wayward penalty attempts from Warwood.

Turning round at the half and with the elements Malvern hit top gear, good tight play from Hill and Handy saw a sniping try for Ian White against his old side. Longley converted, and, apart from a Warwood penalty, it was now becoming a champagne occasion.

Veteran wing Dave Beech powered through several tackles for the next try as Malvern, moved ball from side to side on the field. In a bizarre decision Barkers kicked off blind straight to Beech who with Jenkin, put flanker Alex Thomas under the posts within 30 seconds of the restart.

It was a killer blow, but to their credit the Coventry side came back strongly with tries from Greedy and Rag, as Malvern's concentration lapsed.

Fine work in the midfield from Richards and new boy Alistair Hills set up more attacking opportunities, and a Steve Taylor charge was swept out for skipper Andy Longley to barge his way over for the final try of the day.

Malvern Director of Rugby Dave Robins was ecstatic with the result. "Our half term target has been reached, now we need another four or five wins to guarantee a credible finish to our first year in the division," he said.