MALVERN'S winless start to the Midlands Two (West) season continued with a 14-11 defeat at home to Stafford.

Skipper Matt Richardson had to move to the unfamiliar position of hooker and line-out specialist Chris Smith was again missing from the second row.

Malvern found themselves seven points behind after 14 minutes when Stafford intercepted a loose pass.

Steve Ott missed a long penalty attempt for the hosts and they were unable to capitalise when their opponents' number eight was sin-binned.

In the second-half, Ott clawed back another three points with a penalty as Stafford continued to flirt with offside, before Malvern stole the ball in the loose as the visitors made a rare foray into their territory.

In a barnstorming finish, Dan Kay was just held as he tried to score in the corner with five minutes to go.

Andy Burns, Malvern's best player on the day, charged down a Stafford clearance and then powered through for a try.

Malvern director of rugby David Robins said: "We gave away two soft tries in the first-half through a mixture of laxity and inexperience.

"We had talked before the match about this game being a four-pointer and the lads are very down about the result."

Malvern resume their league campaign at fellow strugglers Old Laurentians on Saturday, November 12 (2.30pm).