AFTER a short break, Malvern U17 Pirates returned to league action last Sunday with a derby-match against Ledbury.

The Pirates squad was up to full strength with the welcome return of Sam McCoy and Will Bowen to their ranks.

After paying their respects to Mark Edwards, who died earlier in the week, with a minute's silence, both sides soon got into their stride in difficult playing conditions, made worse by an earlier U16 cup match between Malvern and Bromsgrove.

However, Malvern had the advantage of the Spring Lane slope and with the wind behind them, they soon managed to thwart any early ambitions Ledbury may have had with excellent defence and sparkling attacking rugby.

Keeping the ball in hand and off-loading with almost perfect precision, the Malvern forwards rumbled down the slope giving scrum-half Sam Jones a series of well-controlled platforms to work behind. With Ledbury falling back, Malvern were able to call the shots and Jones did not hesitate to unleash the Pirates back-line whenever the Ledbury try-line came into view.

With full-back David Morgans joining the line as the extra man on nearly every attacking move, the Malvern backs were almost unstoppable and soon the try-count began to mount as Ledbury ran out of options to counter the pace of the Malvern backs.

But Malvern did not have things all their own way and towards the end of the first-half, Ledbury enjoyed a purple patch when they forced their way towards Malvern's line with some good interplay from their forwards. Nevertheless, the Malvern back-row trio of Reed, Wood and Bowen helped to turn the tide and by the break the Pirates were back in control.

The Malvern try scorers were Sam McCoy (two), Phil Shore (two), Craig Smith (two) and Bert Davis for the backs with Chris Reed scoring for the Malvern pack. McCoy kicked six conversions to seal the 52-0 win for the Pirates.