It was indeed a game of two halves

It has become a cliche across all ball sports that a game is described as a Game of Two Halves, and perhaps it has become over used as it is the best way to describe many games. Whichever way you look at it this North One East tussle at the Gannock certainly served up two contrasting halves; the first half had moments for both sets of supporters, good, bad and indifferent, and it was fairly evenly matched as the sides turned round. The second period was dominated by the home side as The Bees lost their defensive shape and a couple of players to injury.

Everything began rosily for the visitors as their first foray into Malton territory produced a try. The Bees backline worked the ball up the left and side of the field and as the home defence try to swarm to block the attack, a deft little kick through sat up nicely for Henry Reed-Purvis to gather and dot down out by the left corner flag with three minutes on the clock. The lead was short lived as the Home side charged into Bees territory almost immediately and a kick through by James Bulmer was collected by the same player who barged his way to the line. As ten minutes came up on the clock an almost certain Malton score was prevented by an off the ball tackle to the right of the posts. The referee had no doubt that one of a number of Malton players waiting for the pass would have scored and awarded a penalty try.

Bees skipper, Jack Malthouse had been looking lively in the opening exchanges on both sides of the ball and he was rewarded on 20 minutes as he got a finger tip to a wayward pass out wide on the left and gathered the ball to hare away some seventy metres to score.Ben Hockenhull slotted the extras and it was 12 apiece with a quarter of the game gone. The game ebbed and flowed up and down the Gannock slope and either side could have taken the lead as both sides sought to get the ball out wide and away from the rucks and mauls up the middle third of the field. The Bees new number 8, Fijian Eftika Atalifo, looked lively and showed one or two flashes that suggest he may become a crowd favourite with Bees supporters. However, both sides managed to fluff decent chances and it looked like it would remain a draw as the game headed to half time. However the Bees could not hold out Bowman who put his head down and drove over to give his side a seven point lead. The Bees were able to slot a reply through a Hockenhull penalty and the 19-15 scoreline in favour of the hosts didn't seem too far off a reasonable reflection of the half.

The second half didnt begin well for the visitors as the home pack seemed far more focused on the job in hand and started driving the Bees pack backwards at every opportunity. With less than two minutes played Malton were over the line as Lamb was driven over from close quarters. The Malton forwards seemed clearly in the ascendant and with around an hour played were rewarded as the number eight Angus Bowman drove over. The Bees were not helping themselves either as the tackling seemed to drop away and also the number of turnovers increased allowing Malton to attack from anywhere and make progress. On 70 minutes a dropped pass in midfield was hacked on for another Malton seven pointer and there seemed to be no stopping a now rampant home pack which collected further scores on 75 and 78 minutes. The Bees kept at their defensive duties but looked markedly second best as time wore on. However, if the side can put together two halves in a game the way they played the first half here, there may be reasons for optimism at Wagon Lane after a difficult opening month for the Bees.