Malone hosted visitors Midleton at Gibson Park on Saturday 3rd December, Midleton with only one victory this season and sitting 2nd from the bottom of Division 2A proved to be a more daunting prospect than those statics suggested.
This game lived up to the old cliche of a game of two halves. Midleton had the lions share of the first half with Malone being on the defensive for long periods of the opening half.
The visitors scored a try on 19 min when the Midleton No 5 broke from a ruck and ran in unopposed to set down under the posts, Hitchmouth added the extras to leave the visitors ahead by 0-7.
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[youtube iF8SL93PKK0]It was the 24th minute before Malone entered the opposition half, they pressed home a number of attacks but poor handling either saw the ball lost or knocked on, Malone were unable to reduce the deficit as half time approached, though they raised their game as the half came to an end.
The half time talk with coach Jaques Benade seemed to do the trick and Malone made a much improved start to the 2nd half, scores followed on 42 mins through Johnny Burgess with Pentland adding the extras to level the score at 7-7. On 49 minutes replacement Michael Barker scored an unconverted try, and on 55 minutes winger Chris Leathem scored another unconverted try after the ball was passed from an attacking scrum to let him set down in the corner.
Pentland added a further penalty which cancelled an earlier penalty from Hitchmouth, the visitors scored a late consolation try through Cieran Rigney. Malone now ahead 20-15 pressed for the 4th bonus point try but to no avail.
Malone rallied and played well enough to deserve to win this game, next week will see us host the students of Queens University, we beat them well in the earlier Ulster League encounter, but this will prove a much a much different game, and we will need to be on top form and get into the game early to gain a victory.
This promises to be a cracking game so make sure your there to catch the action.
