Malvern march on to cup final

THE North Shropshire side, currently playing in the Northern Division, came to Spring Lane determined to stake their claim to a place in the North Midlands Cup final.

They started at pace and threatened the Malvern line from the off, but the home side responded with a kick ahead from King, full-back Hooper only narrowly failing in his chase to the try-line.

Whitchurch went ahead after five minutes from a massive 48-metre penalty and Malvern responded with a series of driving and rolling mauls deep in the away 22-metre area. However, the well-drilled Whitchurch pack contained the Malvern drives, then cleared the ball downfield, their quick young backs breaking downfield, winning a converted penalty try for a deliberate knock-on.

This was a real wake-up call for Malvern, and they responded dutifully, deciding to run the ball at Whitchurch to expose some defensive frailties in their back line.

King put in a wonderful dummy to wrong-foot the defence, fed Richard Fleming and the big centre used his power to batter through and score, Ryan Watkins converting.

Malvern were also starting to dominate in the scrum, turning Whitchurch and getting into the higher gears, although King had to make a saving tackle after an interception put the visiting winger on a run. Whitchurch managed to halt Malvern's progress with a succession of turnovers at the breakdown but the home side continued to press, Lancett going over but the score being disallowed because of a double movement.

After the break the Whitchurch front-row saw some changes that negated Malvern's dominance somewhat in the scrums, but Chris Smith, Nick Tisdale and Gareth Taylor dominated in the line-out. Malvern put the pick-and-drive to good use, a penalty took them deep into Whitchurch territory and from a scrum, Fleming put over a dropped goal to equalise the scores seven minutes into the half.

However, Whitchurch weren't shaken by this and, in true cup-tie fashion, immediately put Malvern under pressure, winning a scrum then putting in a driving maul to retake the lead as they drove over the Malvern line.

The Worcestershire team rallied, Taylor, so often the unsung hero of Malvern's efforts, punching holes through the Whitchurch defence to open up opportunities, one such seeing the ball fly out to Roberts to run in a try, Watkins putting over a superb conversion from close to the touchline. With Malvern in the lead for the first time the pace became even more fast and furious, both sides running the ball at every opportunity, the visitors regaining the lead on the hour with a move that included at least one forward pass. Undaunted, Malvern stuck to the task in hand, and roared on by the crowd, camped out in the Whitchurch half.

Chris Hooper, who had impressed throughout, put a penalty to touch 12 metres from the Whitchurch try line, Malvern's driving maul at last got the better of the desperate Whitchurch pack and Lancett again became the toast of Malvern as he went over for the winning score. The last seven minutes were played out in nail biting fashion, but Malvern smothered all Whitchurch attempts to get out of their own half before the whistle.

Malvern's director of rugby, David Robins, said: "This was cup rugby at its best, with a tremendous performance from both sides. I can't praise my lads highly enough. Everyone played their part, but I have to single out Richard Fleming as man-of-the-match once more, whilst Lambert and Hooper put in their best performances to date. Then there is Shaun Lancett - what a performer, although demands for a statue are probably going a bit far, despite 23 tries for the season.

"We now look forward to a Cup Final against Solihull on Sunday, May 13, at Stourbridge RFC. This will be a massive game, as we know they can call on second team players from their senior club, Pertemps Bees. Having lost to them recently, our lads are keen to prove a point or two and will be well motivated."

Malvern wind up their Spring Lane season on Sunday (May 6) with a sponsor's day game against University of Worcester, when they thank all those local businesses that have helped to keep the rugby scene in Malvern so buoyant.