Malton and Norton must overcome the biggest hurdle of their season tomorrow when they visit Bradford Salem in the Powergen Junior Vase North/Midland quarter-finals.

Having reeled off a stunning 14 successive wins in the competition, with the highlight being their 2001 final victory over Hoylake, Yorkshire Two promotion-chasers Malton certainly have the pedigree to return to Twickenham.

And after their year's sabbatical in the Intermediate Cup, the reward for their victory over Hoylake, Pat Stephenson's men are back and among the favourites to be return at the home of English rugby in April.

However, they will arrive at Shay Lane to face a Salem side who have never lost a Junior Vase tie at home, with their only defeat in 24 matches coming in October 2001 against Old Otliensians.

Twice Salem have hoisted the Vase aloft at Twickenham, with the club booking their place in history with back-to-back wins over Bichester in the first two years of the competition.

And despite a league advantage over Yorkshire Three side Salem, Malton know their favourites' tag will count for little.

"The lads are all looking forward to the game," said coach Pat Stephenson. "We are concentrating on the league and maintaining our push for promotion, but we keep getting drawn back to this competition.

"A lot of the lads who weren't involved last time are really up for it, while the lads who were involved are driven to return.

"We know that if we play to our abilities we can go through, but that is not always enough for knockout rugby - you need heart and guts.

"Bradford Salem have found it difficult to get out of their division, but Yorkshire Three is a real dogfight.

"The teams that get promoted always do well in Yorkshire Two, so it does worry you when you get pitted against one of these sides.

"To be honest, Salem are the second worst draw we could have had, with Knottingley (the Yorkshire Three leaders) away the one we wanted to avoid.

"We'd rather face any side in the country than one from Yorkshire. You can take on a London side who occasionally have a crackerjack performance, but at a day in, day out level of consistency, the Yorkshire sides are the ones that you don't want to face.

"But I'm confident and comfortable with the fact that we are favourites, so as a coach, I would be very disappointed if we went to Bradford and didn't win."

Stephenson has the luxury of picking from a fully fit squad. He is even able to name a 'strong bench' for the trip, so the Gannock faithful who make the journey to West Yorkshire can expect to see their side's traditional free-flowing style rugby - if the weather holds.

"We like to use the ball at every opportunity, so if it is wet and windy, we can't do that," added Stephenson.

"If it rains and is a mud heap then it will be more difficult for us."

Updated: 10:02 Friday, January 17, 2003