MALVERN Rugby Club deservedly beat physical fellow high-fliers Pinley 13-6 in a Midlands Two West (South) game of seven yellow cards and one red.

While the hosts suffered two yellows for technical offences, the visitors were punished for late tackles, punches and stamps.

Skipper Luke Milton could have suffered a bad injury as he was dumped head-first to the ground.

Malvern generally kept the lid on their wish to retaliate, bar a couple of flare-ups.

Pinley went ahead with a penalty, but Malvern levelled through a Ben King kick after the Pinley stand-off was sin-binned for a late tackle.

He was followed by two more Pinley players as the referee took notice of the off-the-ball tactics, but Malvern failed to make their numerical advantage count, insisting on taking the ball back to the forwards instead of spreading play wide.

All they had to show was another King penalty, and Pinley levelled just before the break.

Malvern director of rugby Dave Irish had words of wisdom at half-time, which galvanised his team.

They pressed the Pinley defence, turning the ball over and playing an expansive game for Ben Essenhigh to go over in the corner for the only try of the match.

King converted from the touchline before the fixture turned into a battle.

Malvern kept their discipline, unlike Pinley, while fine defending towards the end kept the visitors at bay.

Irish admitted: “Sometimes, you have to meet teams like this and just try to play your own game and not get distracted.

“I think that, by and large, Malvern managed that.”

On Saturday (2.15pm), Malvern travel to third-placed Banbury, who they beat 27-19 at Spring Lane earlier in the season.

Irish’s side look to consolidate a top-five place and secure their first double of the term.