Twickenham is now only two games away after marvellous Malton and Norton successfully saw off a spirited challenge from Wellingborough to enter the quarter-final stage of the Tetley Bitter Vase.

The 20-0 triumph means that Malton go into the last eight of the Vase proceedings as the sole representative of the north.

Despite having almost total territorial advantage for much of the first half Malton could not find a way through the visitors' resolute defence until just before the interval.

Then a typical Carl Rushworth run resulted in a scrum close to the Wellingborough line.

Back row forward Richard Webster fed scrum-half Andy Newsome who, in turn, passed on to Neil Gilbertson to score in the corner.

This was no more than Malton deserved after some good controlled rugby had taken its toll on the visitors' resources, including the sin-binning of a flank forward for persistently infringing at tackles.

In the second period Malton continued from where they had left off.

The lead was soon extended when Malton were awarded a penalty for an offside offence and Newsome added the points.

With the Wellingborough pack now suitably softened up it was time for the Malton backs to show their mettle.

However, those plans had to be put on the back burner for a period as Malton were temporarily reduced to 13 men with both Dave Knaggs, who was having a great game in the back row, and centre Arthur Wilson sent to the sin bin within a couple of minutes of each other.

During this time Malton showed good team spirit and still maintained the pressure.

On the few occasions danger threatened the boot of Nick Tyson came to the rescue with some prodigious line kicking.

Once back to full strength Malton were able to turn the screw.

A break by Tyson was carried on by Tim Chapman, who then put Ian Mansell away on the left wing to touch down in the corner.

The large crowd were now urging Malton forward at every opportunity and their side did not let them down.

Attack after attack was mounted on the Wellingborough line but again the visitors defended well to keep Malt out.

At some stage a gap was almost bound to appear and when it did Tyson needed no second chance to take advantage, storming over under the posts for Malt's third try. Newsome converted and the Malton applause was deafening.

Once again Malt have risen to the occasion on the big day.

None did better than Knaggs and David Cooke, whose tackling at times was awesome, but each member of the squad can take huge credit for a fantastic effort.

Malton await the draw for the quarter-final with renewed optimism and now have the confidence to face anyone without fear.

Updated: 12:10 Monday, January 29, 2001