MALVERN maintained their excellent form in Midlands Two West (South) after inflicting Spartans’ first home rugby defeat in 23 matches.

Malvern’s director of rugby, Dave Irish, was delighted with his side’s 29-10 success on their maiden trip to the Sutton Coldfield outfit.

“To come away to a home fortress like this and take the points shows great determination, especially as the conditions were not ideal,” said Irish.

“Our fitness and mobility allowed us to dictate large swathes of the game, and in truth we weren’t completely at our best because we butchered some clear-cut scoring chances.”

Playing up a slope with a wind at their backs, the visitors started brightly.

The referee issued an early yellow card to Spartans for a late tackle, but Malvern’s drive was held up by the strong home pack.

Malvern got into their stride as George Roberts made a 50-metre run through the Spartans defence and James Southall went over for a try and Ben King converted.

Turning over a Spartans maul, Malvern threatened once more, Adam Dixon’s half-break taking them close without any reward.

Richard Hobbs killed a Spartans attack before Malvern used the wind to advantage to gain ground. A couple of clear scoring chances were wasted as the final pass went astray.

Dixon made another telling break for the visitors, but a deliberate knock on by Spartans foiled the move.

King’s penalty stretched Malvern’s lead to 10 points.

Malvern continued to run the ball at every opportunity in the second-half.

James Redfearn put in a great carry before the ball was moved across the backs but as the line was crossed the ball was dislodged by some desperate defence.

Malvern piled on the pressure, running some excellent lines for skipper Luke Milton to go through to extend the lead and King’s conversion took the score to 17-0.

Spartans pulled back thee points from a penalty and then had a good spell of possession without threatening as Malvern’s defence held firm.

Malvern won a scrum and flanker Rory Jones made ground to feed Redfearn, who crossed for a try, and King converted.

Spartans worked their way into the Malvern 22 and, from a five-metre scrum, their winger scored in the corner and the kicker slotted a difficult conversion.

But Malvern went back on the attack and Grant Fraser almost got through.

The visitors remained in control and had the final word after another Dixon half-break won a penalty.

The ball was shipped to Jones, who dived over for the bonus point try and a hard-earned win.

Malvern host Old Yardleians in the North Midlands Shield on Saturday.