MALVERN Town returned to winning ways in the Hellenic League Premier Division after a 3-1 win over Roman Glass St George on Saturday afternoon.

The Hillsiders slipped to their first defeat of the season in mid-week to Westfields but thanks to a Joe Bates brace and another goal for striker Harry Clark, they made it six wins from their opening eight games to begin the 2021/22 season.

Malvern move up to third in the table, with a game in hand on Brimscombe & Thrupp in second place.

Manager Lee Hooper said after the defeat to Westfields that he was hoping for a reaction, and that is what he got.

His side started well and had a number of chances to take the lead; with Dave Reynolds going closest to opening the scoring.

The striker was then involved in the first goal of the afternoon when he was fouled by the visiting keeper in the box, with Clark converting the resulting penalty on the half-hour mark to take his personal tally to seven for the season.

Both sides took a while to get into their stride at the start of the second period.

Clark had the ball in the net just before the hour after Bates’ strike was pushed out by the ‘keeper, but it was ruled out for offside.

Town managed to get the all important second on 65 minutes when a sublime take from Bates saw him bring down a cross-field ball with a great touch before slotting home with aplomb beyond the reach of the ‘keeper.

With the final ten minutes approaching, Glass did pull one back through Loui Ward and moments later they could have equalised when Lewis Ellington hit the woodwork from distance.

The visitors piled on the pressure in their search for a leveller and Adam Sauntson had to clear off the line to keep Malvern's now slender advantage intact.

The points were eventually secured in the final moments as Bates launched a counter-attack and went it alone, slotting home to register his second of the day.