MALVERN Rugby Club remain in the Midlands Two (West) promotion hunt following a dazzling 36-7 revenge victory at home to Stafford.

They had conceded their first defeat to Stafford in the autumn so had a point to prove in Saturday's match.

And the visitors obviously thought they could put in a repeat performance, starting strongly.

Malvern soaked up the pressure until the 12th minute when Stafford's tricky Kiwi centre Begbie broke through to score and Mottershead converted.

The hosts took this as a wake-up call and began putting the squeeze on the Stafford pack in the tight.

Having found the visiting defence wanting, Malvern started to play open rugby, moving the ball around with skill and confidence on a cold, wet day.

Tom Green made a superb 20th-minute break through the middle and popped the ball to his right with Steve Ott receiving the final pass to score in the corner.

Andy Longley's kick just faded as it reached the posts but Malvern had posted a notice of intent.

They began recycling the ball well, retaining possession and attacking Stafford head on.

Nigel Richardson and his back-row colleagues took the ball on repeatedly, scrum-half Julien Davies snapping round the edges of rucks and then putting Dave King into the playmaker's spotlight.

The Aussie stand-off rang the changes, Mark Eastwood and Nick Major in the centre were at their trickiest, while Ott and Green looked hungry on the wings.

In the 27th minute, Malvern won a line-out and the ball found its way to Eastwood who powered his way through to score a fine try. Longley converted.

Stafford put in some huge driving mauls but Malvern turned the ball over and Eastwood again used his strength to go over for another converted try.

Longley then put over a penalty on the stroke of half-time to give Malvern a 22-7 lead at the break.

The second-half saw Malvern continue to move the ball around, putting together excellent passages of play.

Chris Smith, starting for the first time since an operation, looked solid and Shawn Lancett showed delicate touches, despite a 10-minute sin-bin visit.

The Malvern forwards went on a rampage which culminated in Eastwood's hat-trick and Longley's conversion.

Then Jim Hynes battered his way through most of the Stafford pack and Davies passed to King who chipped the ball ahead to run in one of the finest individual efforts seen at Spring Lane.

Longley's two points ended the proceedings and Malvern retained third place behind Hinckley and Burton who both won.

Director of rugby, David Robins, said: "This was vintage Malvern rugby with five fine tries. We were strong in the scrum, although our line-out work needs some attention.

"However, our back-row unit was functioning extremely well with Nigel Richardson making an impact, despite having not played competitively for around three years.

"The backs were really on song, clocking up what could end up being a crucial points difference."