MALVERN crashed to a 32-15 defeat on their maiden trip to Pinley in Midlands Two West (South) after paying the price for a slow start.

Director of rugby Dave Irish had hoped for a repeat of the previous week’s all-running performance against Yardleians.

But Malvern struggled to get out of first gear in a pedestrian display and were hamstrung by the loss of debutant Jordan Nwachukwu, who suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Malvern started well in the first 10 minutes, running at the hosts, but they spilled the ball too many times and were poor in the line-out.

The Coventry side opened the scoring when their scrum-half ran through several half-hearted tackles for a converted try.

Malvern fought back and forced a series of penalties at the breakdown before Ollie Rayner pulled back three points with a 40-metre effort.

Malvern tried to counter but recycled ball was too slow and Pinley’s covering defence repeatedly stifled the attacks.

Pinley increased their lead when they stole the ball in a similar fashion to their first try, leaving Malvern’s midfield cover floundering.

Even when Pinley had a man sin-binned, Malvern failed to make their extra man advantage count and also lost Nwachukwu with a dislocated shoulder.

Malvern’s attacks were disrupted by a lively Pinley, who were well drilled by a former Broadstreet coach.

When Malvern made headway into home territory, they were unable to capitalise on it.

After one Pinley turn-over, the home side won a penalty, which was put deep into the Malvern half.

A well executed catch-and-drive saw a third Pinley try which swept the hosts into a 17-3 lead at the break.

Pinley half-backs continued to control the game after the interval and the stand-off sat in the pocket, using his accurate boot to keep Malvern at bay.

Whenever Malvern moved the ball across the narrow pitch they were too slow and easily caught by the home defence.

Pinley stretched their lead to 19 points when their fly-half profited from poor tackling to score a well-taken try.

Malvern responded well and finally put in some forward carries as James Southall nipped through to score.

However, another penalty saw Malvern pushed deep into their own half and another catch-and-drive move saw Pinley go over for a converted try.

They followed up with a drop goal to put the Warwickshire men out of sight.

Malvern finished the game strongly and won a penalty deep in Pinley’s half. They moved the ball to Richard Fleming, who used his strength to jink over the whitewash.

Rayner converted to make the final score look more respectable.