MALVERN Rugby Club hosted London side Hampstead for their final warm-up game before the opening league match against Newport on Saturday and clinched a 26-12 victory.

After the heroics against the professionals of Reading, the Spring Lane outfit disappointed for much of the match, showing little shape and making a series of basic errors while in possession.

The Hampstead defensive cover was efficient, putting in first-time tackles to disrupt Malvern's attacking forays.

A titanic struggle in the front rows saw a large number of set pieces disrupted, and tempers flared early on in incidents involving Hampstead's enormous French prop which ultimately saw the referee send hime to the sin-bin along with Malvern's Alex Thomas after some interesting exchanges of views.

The direct running Londoners took control of the game as the half progressed, scoring two minutes before the break. They then increased their lead after the interval through a fine solo effort by their scrum-half.

He ran 60 metres almost unopposed to stretch the score to 12-0, leaving several red faces in the Malvern defence.

Mid-way through the half, Malvern became more disciplined and at last started putting some fluidity into their play.

Dave Irish opened the scoring after a tap penalty move. Jim Callow then scored a try on his debut, with Longley converting to level the scores.

In the last twenty minutes, the Malvern pack started to dominate a tiring Hampstead, driving to the line for Blakeway to nip through and touch down. Longley again added the extra points.

Some good recycling of the ball saw Thomas finish off the spirited opposition, with skipper Longley closing Malvern's account for the day.

Despite the win, the Spring Lane club's director of rugby David Robins was not pleased with the Malvern performance.

"A bad day at the office, with poor handling and tackling meant we were outplayed for most of the match. We had little or no shape, were too frantic and it was only in the last quarter that our spirit showed through.

"On the plus side, it was good to see Jim Callow score on his debut, but we must work on our continuity for the first league match against Newport at the end of this week," said Robins.