YOUTH may well be given its fling as Malton and Norton RUFC hope it will be third time lucky this season.

The Tetley Bitter Vase winners missed out on promotion from Yorkshire Three for the second year running last season.

"At the end of the day we were not quite good enough to go up," said coach Pat Stephenson

"But I would not like to take that magical day at Twickenham away from the squad of the town. Everyone will remember it for the rest of their lives."

One of the stars of that run to rugby union headquarters, prop Tom Eddy, will not be available on a full-time basis this season as work commitments have seen him move to live in Castleford.

Another absentee will be David Cooke who has gone to Australia for a year.

Eddy's natural replacement, Richard Ellis, will start Saturday's first league game against Stocksbridge, but his farming commitments may mean that veteran Steve Riddolls could well make the starting line-ups in some games.

However, Stephenson is keen to blood some younger players who have come up through the Colts ranks like fly-half Rob Tate and Yorkshire Schools No 8 Andy Mitchell.

Centre Richard John has returned to Malton after spells with Bristol club Clifton and Northamptonshire side Rushden, whom he captained.

Australian-born stand-off Chris Creber, such an influential player in Malton's run to Twickenham, will once again be a key player for the Gannock team along with the free-scoring centre Tim Chapman.

Wing forward Tom Anderson has joined from Harrogate and second row Duncan Foster, who only managed one game last season because of injury, has declared himself fit.

Although many will regard Malton one of the favourites to go up, Stephenson fears there may be a sense of anti-climax after his side's Twickenham heroics.

Because of their success in the Vase competition, Malton have been elevated to the Intermediate Cup and start with a hard game at Hull, now guided by former Pocklington player-coach Gary Pearce. That match will be played a week on Saturday.

MALTON AND NORTON

Yorkshire Three

September: 8 Stocksbridge (a), 22 Roundhegians (a), 29 Wath (a)

October: 6 Heath (h), 13 Beverley (a), 20 Halifax Vandals (a), 27 Bramley Phoenix (h)

November: 10 Hessle (a), 17 Bradford Salem (h), 24 York RI (h)

December: 1 Leeds Corinthians (a), 8 Otliensians (a), 15 Pocklington (h), 22 Barnsley (h), 29 Scarborough (h)

January: 5 Leeds Corinthians (h), 12 Bradford Salem (a), 19 North Ribbesdale (a) Yorkshire Shield, 26 Hessle (h)

February: 2 Bramley Phoenix (a), 9 Halifax Vandals (h), 16 Hullensians (h), 23 Heath (a)

March: 2 Wath (h), 9 Roundhegians (a), 16 Stocksbridge (h), 23 Pocklington (a)

April: 6 Barnsley (h), 13 Otliensians (h)

Updated: 12:09 Wednesday, September 05, 2001