Despite the terrible conditions Malton were able to play some of their best rugby of the season to beat Yorkshire Three title rivals Heath 27-8 at the Gannock.

Heath took an early lead in the driving rain with a penalty when Malton were caught offside at a ruck.

The setback was a temporary blip and with Jim Fisher and Carl Rushworth leading with some ferocious drives, Heath were soon on the backfoot.

Good ball was constantly produced by the pack and half backs Andy Newsome and the outstanding Chris Creber, who linked well with fellow Aussie Nick Tyson, ensured that little was wasted.

After a spell of pressure on the Heath line the pack again gave good ball to the backs and Tyson used his pace and strength to cross between the posts. Newsome converted.

Once in the lead Malton moved up a gear and again set up base in the Heath half. Another Malton foray to the visitors' 22 area again produced good ball for Tyson to again use his pace to cross for his second try which Newsome converted.

Heath never gave up and on half time Malton temporarily took their foot off the gas and allowed Heath to narrow the gap with a good try by centre Dave Stanger which Mick Gleeson converted to add to his earlier penalty.

At half-time Malton changed into fresh shirts and the outlook was brighter. Some good handling in the Malton threes again caused panic in the visitors defence and, from the resultant ruck, flanker Dave Knaggs picked up to score in the corner and put daylight between the sides.

The kicking of Newsome and Tyson ensured that Malton held territorial advantage for much of the time but Heath always looked dangerous and it took a Newsome penalty to create a large enough margin for the Malton support to breathe a little easier.

The visitors then began to show signs of cracking and Malton just failed on two occasions to get the ball down over the line before Newsome broke from a ruck on the blind side and put Creber in for a well deserved try at the corner.

The win means that Heath have now fallen behind Malton, York RI and Skipton, who are all equal on points at the top of the table.

Malton's points for and against difference, however, is inferior to their rivals which means they must keep on winning to keep up the challenge.

Updated: 13:40 Monday, February 12, 2001