MALVERN got their Midlands One West season off to a sorry start as they crashed to a 41-0 defeat at Old Halesonians.

The hosts scored six tries with four of those coming in the first half as they swept to victory at Wassell Grove.

Malvern made a bright start, piling pressure on the home side but they were unable to capitalise and were hampered when Tom Hale suffered a knee injury.

A Malvern penalty failed to find touch and the Spring Lane side were immediately punished, with Old Hales winning a line-out deep in their opponent’s 22.

From the catch and drive, they put in a cross-field kick for the winger to run in and score the opener.

From the restart, Old Hales went on the offensive again and poor tackling allowed them through for a soft try to stretch the lead to 12-0 with the conversion.

Fielding five new faces Malvern looked disjointed and further rejigging did not help as Luke Milton was called on to switch to scrum-half.

Although he put in a good shift the side missed his defensive work and good positioning at full back.

With Old Hales showing more speed at the breakdown and popping the ball well at the tackle Malvern were struggling to contain them and conceded several penalties.

The yardage gained resulted in a powerful forward drive which netted them a penalty try.

As the half drew to a close more pressure out wide saw Old Hales clinch the bonus point and a 29-0 half-time lead.

The second half showed a marked improvement in Malvern's play as they took the game to Old Hales.

But the Hagley team’s defence held strong and kept them out.

Some forward passes and knock-ons at crucial times conspired against Malvern as they continued to pile on the pressure.

The performance was far more spirited in the second period but just as it seemed that they might restrict the scoring Malvern were pushed back with ten minutes to go and Old Hales scored again.

To cap off a miserable day Malvern threw in on their own five-metre line only for the ball to miss its target and allow Old Hales to wrap up the game with another soft try.

The gap in experience told greatly on the day with Old Hales quicker in thought and were well drilled in both attack and defence.

They also had a squad that featured players that had played at a higher level for many years.

Malvern will look to bounce back when they host Stoke on Trent on Saturday (3pm).