MALVERN RFC went into this game knowing that they had the toughest possible opening fixture in Midlands One.

DUNSTABLIANS 41pts, MALVERN 7pts

With the side disrupted by a mixture of non-availabilities and injuries sustained in training, director of rugby David Robins was forced to start with a cobbled-together line-up with several players out of position.

However, it was Malvern who struck first, stand-off Paul Jenkin showing the old magic with a superbly taken solo effort, a jinking run through a flailing defence.

This proved to be a wake-up call for the Bedfordshire side, who have shot through the league rankings with enormous cash backing, their stated aim to be National League status.

The rest of the first half was a scenario of Malvern, backs to the wall, defending heroically as Dunstablians chipped away around the edges of the scrum, putting the Malvern back row under continuous pressure. The Spring Lane outfit held strong until just before half time, when the Dunstablians latest import from New Zealand, centre Marchant, shrugged off two tackles to score, South African full back Loxton converting.

The second half was a continuation of the first, Dunstablians winning the back row battle courtesy of number 8 Charlie Nissen, who had guested at Malvern a few seasons ago. Loxton slotted over a penalty in the 45th minute, then centre Hedges powered through some shaky Malvern defence in the 64th minute and nine minutes later Nissen broke through to put winger Haylett in.

Even when Dunstablians had started to find their way through the battered and makeshift Malvern back line, the forwards never gave up, the front five ensuring that that Dunstablians didn't have it all their own way. Cooper was, as always, solid as a rock, whilst hooker Andy Logan stole five strikes against the head. James Daniel, starting his first-ever league match, was a propping revelation, and Duncan Short and Adie MacBurney stoked up the engine room all afternoon.

It wasn't until the last seven minutes that the Dunstablians scoring machine, which averaged over 50 points per match last season, was able to dominate totally as Malvern ran out of steam. Haylett and Loxton (twice) ran in tries in the dying moments, illustrating the killer instinct which Malvern will have to quickly develop.

Despite the scoreline, it wasn't all doom and gloom from Robins. Whilst commenting on the poor level of pre-season training commitment from some, he was delighted with the showing of new and untried youngsters like James Daniel and Richard Fleming, who was switched to full-back at the eleventh hour.

"It is unlikely that they will ever have such a difficult time as on their debuts," he said.