McKinney in fine form with the boot sees Malone win the Belfast derby game by 14-25

Malone showed the greater passion in this game, the matter of relegation still loomed and perhaps this was the reason for the greater hunger shown by this young Malone side.

It was the home side who made the brighter start and Malone were pinged by the referee on more than a few occasions at scrum time though the referee got to grips with the Harlequins tight head who was turning in illegally.

Harlequins winger Sloan opened the scoring and Malone replied with a penalty from McKinney. Quins advanced their scoreline with two penalties from Liam Cambridge.

Malone replied with a try from second row Alan O'Connor which was converted by McKinney to reduce the arrears to 11-10. cambridge and McKinney exchanged penalties, and McKinney added another penalty to give Malone a slender lead at half time by 14-16.

The second half saw Malone continue to dominate and despite loosing 2 players to yellow cards the stuck to the task, James McKinney slotted over a further three penalties to take his points tally to 20 points for the day.

So Malone ran out winners by 14-25 and managed to deny Belfast Harlequins a losing bonus point. The win now takes Malone 4 points above the relegation zone, still more work to be done to ensure our survival in Division 1B.

Our next game away to Blackrock college next Saturday, all travelling support would be most welcome.