Preston Grasshoppers 20, Hull Ionians 21: Hoppers denied by Hull in cliffhanger

Preston Grasshoppers celebrated Lancashire Day on Saturday, but it was their Yorkshire rivals who took the spoils in a National League Two North cliffhanger at Lightfoot Green.

Hoppers assistant coach Dan Orwin said: “The lads were absolutely gutted at the end. We felt we were the better team and deserved more than a losing bonus point. The big decisions didn’t go our way.”

In particular, Hoppers felt they could have been awarded a late – and possibly match-winning – penalty for what looked like a tip tackle on Ally Murray, only to see their lock penalised himself for not releasing.

Hoppers started brightly against third-placed Ionians but penalties cost them two promising positions. However, Josh Longson’s brilliant break led to a simple penalty, which Ed Keohane popped over.

Some well-coordinated play by the visitors brought them an excellent try by Lewis Minikin, which the centre also converted.After Ionians winger James Thompson was sinbinned for a tackle in the air, Hoppers regained the lead, with fly-half Keohane rounding off a spell of forward pressure for an unconverted try.

In a half punctuated by penalties every two or three minutes, Hull went ahead again when lock Joe Makin drove over from a line-out and Minikin converted.

But a neatly-taken short line-out saw hooker Chris Taylor dart over for an unconverted try to make it 13-14 at the break.

The second half started disastrously for the hosts, with skipper Harry Moulding yellow-carded as Ionians piled on the pressure.

Hoppers held out for eight minutes, but lost ball in midfield cost them dearly as flanker Lucas Powell found space out wide for a try again well converted by Minikin.

Hoppers refused to give up and, with 10 minutes left and their pack proving a real handful, strong pressure from the forwards created the space for Keohane’s second try, which he converted.Sadly, the hosts couldn’t overturn the one-point deficit.