AN overcast and blustery day did nothing to hide Malvern under 16s' electrifying late-season form as they produced some illuminated running rugby to beat visitors Burton 31-19 in the annual Dave Bowen Memorial Cup at Spring Lane.

Malvern stayed in the Burton half for the first five minutes with Will Griffiths heavily involved in a series of rucks creating the space for second row Arran Carr to stretch for the line to touch down and Lewis Hardiman kicked an exceptional conversion given the conditions.

This spurred Burton into life as they applied pressure with strong running from their forwards giving them territory.

Malvern dug in defensively and held out a series of attacks but eventually Burton found space and scored an unconverted try to the right of the posts.

After the restart Malvern played with tempo which allowed Ollie Hale to burst through and take the play into the Burton half.

Quick thinking by scrum-half Rory Smith saw him take a quick penalty and run through untouched to score a converted try under the posts.

Malvern showed confidence with sharp inter-play between forwards and backs disrupting Burton who struggled to control their possession.

Again quick second-phase ball saw neat passing along the back-line to create a try for Ryan Smith in the corner.

Malvern extended their lead further in the second half when Oliver Elliot-Williams, who had only just come onto the pitch, ran a superb line to cut straight through under the posts for a try that Hardiman converted.

Burton applied pressure with a fine burst from inside centre only stopped by a brave tackle from full-back Nathanial Barnsley-Staight who had to leave the field shortly after to be ably replaced by Luke Dockery.

Good work from the Burton flanker saw the ball quickly recycled for a score under the posts which was then converted.

Malvern took over and quick ball from a scrum allowed James Meredith to puncture a hole through the middle taking play to the visitors' 22 only for quick ruck ball to allow Tom Bill the opportunity to throw a pass out of the back of his hand to the ever-alert Hardiman who scored in the corner.

Burton showed fight in the final 15 minutes testing the Malvern defence repeatedly as they tired.

They pressed for more points but a great defensive effort from the likes of Jack Frayne, Rory Withey, Carl Daly and Harris Forsyth held the visitors.

Burton were not to be denied and finally broke through for a try in the corner but Malvern held on for a great win to bring the cup back to Malvern.

The cup is in memory of Dave Bowen who established the Burton youth rugby section and his son played for Malvern for many years.

Malvern are looking to recruit players to join the squad and interested players can contact Ewan Forsyth at ewan.forsyth2@btinternet.com or pitchero.com/clubs/malvernrfc.