​​​Preston Grasshoppers 40 Tynedale 34: Hoppers survive late Dale onslaught

Newly-announced director of rugby Alex Keay was not overly concerned with the narrowness of Hoppers’ fifth win of the National League Two North campaign.

“We were totally running the game until those late tries,” he said. “Tynedale were chasing the game, with nothing to lose, and it’s easy to chuck it around in that situation.”But he was critical of some aspects of Hoppers’ play: “Our execution was not good enough on occasions, and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.“But we are getting better at being smart. We want people to think: ‘That’s good rugby” and it’s been coming for a while.”After an early penalty by Tynedale full-back Robert Parker, Hoppers hit back with two well-taken tries. Full-back Ben Pearson set the ball rolling with an incisive break and link with Jacob Browne before winning the race to the kick ahead.A fine 50/20 kick by man-of-the-match Will Hunt set up the position from which No 8 Scott Richardson was almost over before skipper Harry Moulding darted over from a scrum close to the line.Hunt converted both, but a sloppy pass in the hosts’ 22 presented Tynedale fly-half Josh Leslie with an easy run-in, with Parker adding the conversion.It was hectic stuff, with no let-up for the rest of the first half as Hoppers secured the four-try bonus point with scores by front-row forwards Tom Guest and Olly Trippier.Guest bagged his first for the club with a 30-metre gallop after Josh Longson had won the restart kick following Tynedale’s try, while Trippier crashed over from a line-out. Hunt converted both.Hoppers increased their lead to 33-10 seconds into the second half, with centre Jake Maher scything clean through from halfway for his first try for the club.The visitors’ hooker Louis Frankland was driven over from a line-out, with Parker converting, but Hoppers seemed to have the game sewn up going into the last quarter, when slick handling and a splendid long pass from Browne put winger Will Clapham in for his ninth try of the campaign, again converted by Hunt.But that sparked Tynedale’s never-say-die fight-back, with tries by Micky Hall, Ben Haigh and Alex Dryden in the space of five minutes.Parker could manage only one of the conversions, but there was one last “heart in mouth” moment for the home fans when Hunt lined up a 30-metre penalty which rebounded into play, giving Tynedale a stoppage-time chance to go the length of the field for victory with a converted try.Happily for Hoppers, they lost possession and the final whistle brought an end to an epic encounter.