MALVERN Ladies continued their winning ways with a good victory over Harbourne on Saturday but it was no easy ride.

MALVERN LADIES HOCKEY CLUB 3, HARBOURNE 0

For the first 20 minutes of the match Malvern struggled to put together any kind of passing game and gave the ball away too easily and too frequently.

Harbourne looked under strength and against tougher opposition Malvern would almost certainly have gone in at half time trailing by at least two goals.

Some excellent work by the home team's goalkeeper and an element of good fortune whilst defending penalty corners did however mean that Malvern survived until the break.

The second half saw a brighter start as the crowd became more vocal and persuaded Malvern that a passing game was required

Following a slick interchange down the right flank, a powerful cross into the area was deflected home by Kate Taylor from close range to the relief of the home team. Harbourne were desperately unlucky to lose their most creative and influential player shortly afterwards due to injury and this relieved much of the pressure on Malvern who gradually took control of the game.

As the defence grew in confidence and the midfield pushed further forward they were able to release their front-runners to greater effect and inevitably it was the free-scoring Lucy Smith who twice found the net to continue her impressive form in front of goal.

Once again a defender gained the man of the match award for Malvern with Liz McCann taking the honours for a solid performance under pressure.