Malton and Norton were forced to battle every inch of the way for a point from an 18-18 draw at neighbours Selby.

The draw keeps Malton on top of Yorkshire One while Selby eased their own relegation worries.

Although most of North Yorkshire was snowbound Sandhill Lane provided a welcome island of green. Near perfect conditions, apart from a strong northerly breeze, saw two sides at opposite ends of the table provide a large crowd with bags of entertainment.

Malton now only need to win two more points from the six on offer to gain promotion while Selby should stay up if they repeat this kind of battling display.

Selby, with the breeze at their backs, started with a vengeance. Using their well organised pack to gain ground they kept play in the Malton half of the field for long periods.

Whenever Malton did break out they were invariably sent back with some prodigious kicking from home fly-half Toby Pemberton and full-back Simon Hall.

After ten minutes and after another forward drive to the Malton line scrum-half Matt Smith picked up and dummied the Malton defence to score. Pemberton missed the conversion.

Because of the wind Malton were forced to keep the ball in hand and with James McKay in storming form at No 8 were able to make in-roads into Selby territory but the tackling on both sides was ferocious and breaches were few and far between.

Malton drew level in first half added on time. Fly-half Chris Creber broke blind from a mid-field ruck before handing on to full- back Ian Cooke who drew his man - before handing on to wing Tom Stephenson, who scampered in at the corner despite Selby protests that Stephenson had been in touch and hit the corner flag on the way over.

Selby hit back instantly when they worked their way down field from their own line and earned a penalty in front of the posts when a Malton hand was adjudged to have helped the ball back in a ruck. Pemberton converted and Selby had a slender three-point lead at the break.

The fitness of the Malton side was expected to tell in the second period and it did seem to be showing as they monopolised territorial position for long periods.

Selby were still proving a tough nut to crack and centre Shaun Austerfield was five metres short after a determined run.

At this stage Selby, who had brought on Hamish Burns for ankle injury victim Andy Gabel, were looking strong but a mistake by their backs proved costly on the hour. They cough up possession and Creber's break set up left wing Liam Cowton to make a forceful run to cross for Malton's second try and the lead for the first time.

Worse was to follow for Selby as Malton increased the lead when another blind side break gave Stephenson his second try of the game to gove the visitors a 15-8 lead - Ian Cooke having failed with all three conversions.

But Selby re-doubled their efforts to salvage something from the game. After a number of forward drives in midfield and a quick tap penalty by Smith,t hey spun the ball wide for full-back Hall to exploit the overlap and score.

Pemberton missed the conversion in to the wind, but the match was back in the balance.

There was now an electric atmosphere around the ground as both sides tried their utmost to seal the result.

With five minutes remaining Cooke seemed to have done just that with a successful penalty when Selby infringed at a ruck.

However, the game was far from dead and Selby refused to buckle as they fought their way back into Malton territory. Again they successfully drew in the defence to create an overlap Austerfield to cross wide out to level the scores.

Winger Phil Raffen was given the opportunity to win the game with his conversion but it fell just short and an exciting encounter ended all square.

Selby can take credit from a spirited performance which should give them a springboard to take them further up the table. Their pack, led by prop Andrew Pocklington were tremendous with Paul Gabel probably having his best game for the club.

Although missing a number of regular members of the back division, Malton can take heart from the performances of those who came into the side, particularly George Mosey and Alan Aitken in the centre and Tom Stephenson on the wing.

Updated: 11:04 Monday, March 01, 2004