MALVERN Town Reserves won 4-2 against mid-table rivals Fownhope on a blustery afternoon at the HDanywhere Community Stadium.

An early morning inspection passed the pitch fit for the Herefordshire FA League Premier Division clash.

Malvern's under 18s had played the evening before so were unavailable while three of the second-string squad dropped out through illness.

Fownhope took the game to Town from the off and grabbed the lead on seven minutes.

But on 18 minutes first-team co-manager Lee Hooper was played in and rolled back the years with a neat finish from 10 yards.

Fownhope hit straight back to regain the lead with a solo goal which led Malvern to play some quick football.

That resulted in robust challenges from the visitors and loud appeals for a penalty were turned down when the lively Lanre Giwa was upended inside the area.

Just before the break the hosts' Matt Turner hit the woodwork.

The second half saw Malvern put in neat passages of play and they levelled when Hooper fed Turner who made no mistake.

Town got their noses in front for the first time in the 68th minute when Hooper threaded through Turner for his second goal.

The points were secured with 10 minutes left when Louis Loader found the net following another assist from the hard-working Hooper.

“I was really pleased with the work that the lads put in over the course of the 90 minutes,” said manager Peter Daffin.

“We started very slowly and fell behind early on but we managed to get ourselves back into the game and although we fell behind again going into half-time the lads responded to what was said during the interval and put in a fine second-half showing.

“We were on top throughout the second period with Pinder in our goal rarely troubled but we know we have to be able to start games on the front foot and with purpose.

“This is something we will be working on but it’s also good to see some of the work we have done in training come to fruition.”