MALVERN treated a large crowd at Spring Lane to an afternoon of exciting rugby in a 43-17 triumph over Old Coventrians in the Midlands Two West (South).

Dave Irish’s men ran in seven tries to easily defeat the strugglers.

The home side made their mark at the first scrum, winning a penalty against the head which signalled the start of an expansive game.

Rory Jones dived over in the corner for Malvern’s first try and soon afterwards Adam Dixon’s long pass saw Ben King run in a second score, which he converted.

Fourth-placed Malvern lost Jordan Nwachukwu to a torn hamstring and he made way for Conor Giggle.

The nippy winger was soon involved after his team won a penalty and an opposition player was sin-binned.

Giggle made a dash down the narrow corridor and fed Dave Smith, who put Jones in for his second try.

Malvern were full of confidence and sure handling, switching the ball around and creating gaps – and not just in the backs.

Props Grant Fraser and Craig Freeman, together with hooker George Withers, were all involved in enterprising carries, while Jack Longley, Jones and Joe Wilks were roving the field and linking well with the half-backs.

Giggle hacked on and collected to cut inside with Richard Fleming gliding through to score and set up King’s conversion to secure the try bonus point.

Smith then charged down a kick as Old Covs tried to secure a foothold in the Malvern half and Fraser broke downfield on a dangerous charge as the home side once more kept play in the opposition half.

Their all-out attacking game again paid off as they moved down the pitch and skipper Luke Milton joined from full back to score.

As the first half came to an end, third-from-bottom Old Covs mounted their first serious attack in home territory, winning a penalty and scoring a try from a catch-and-drive move.

Malvern made all the running at the start of the second period, despite losing Tom Mann came on for the injured Wilks and slotted in well.

The Spring Lane side continued to play their expansive game and used the wind well.to their advantage.

George Roberts made telling runs and the opposition felt his strength more than once, while scrum half James Southall had a field day.

Southall was rewarded as he made a break after a line-out, running the ball from halfway in a 50-metre sprint for a superb individual try, which King converted.

Ollie Rayner replaced Fleming as Irish rang the changes for the final time.

Milton put the icing on the cake as he stormed through, kicked ahead and collected the ball to go over for his side’s seventh try of the afternoon with King again converting.

Old Covs refused to give up and, as Malvern relaxed, they replied with two late consolation tries.

Meanwhile, Upton handed Woodrush a home walkover in Midlands Three West (South), which sentenced the Old Street side to the bottom two.

They are two points behind Manor Park but face a daunting home clash with second-placed Bedworth on Saturday.

Fourth-from-bottom Bromyard lost 36-26 at home to Rugeley in Midlands Four West (North) and visit Telford Hornets on Saturday.