Scunthorpe 24, Hoppers 18

Preston Grasshoppers lost their fourth game on the bounce after Steve Johnson kicked Scunthorpe to victory at Heslam Park.
Christian Taylor scored for HoppersChristian Taylor scored for Hoppers
Christian Taylor scored for Hoppers

In contrast, the result for fellow strugglers Scunthorpe earned them their first victory since the opening day of the season.

Steve Johnson kicked the host’s to victory, slotting four penalties in a scrappy affair, which saw four yellow cards handed out.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Hoppers head-coach Garth Dew was frustrated with his side’s decision making.

“With injuries and late withdrawals, it was a disruptive build-up to this game and we ended up having to play with no recognised scrum-half.

“But it was a game we could and should have won but, again, we did not take our chances and made poor decisions and execution at crucial times.

“There is no need to panic but it is frustrating and there are some hard lessons to be learned in order to eradicate making the same errors.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The boot of Johnson gave the host’s an early three point lead, but Hoppers bagged the game’s first try just four minutes later.

Hooker Christian Taylor bulldozed his way through two tacklers to dot down out wide, with Lewis Allen missing the conversion.

Scunthorpe regained the lead when a penalty try was awarded after Alex Zavallis-Roebuck received yellow card for illegally stopping Scunthorpe’s Will Robinson from touching down.

Johnson then slotted two more penalties to give Scunthorpe a 16-8 advantage at half-time.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Shortly after the break, number eight Luke Proctor crossed the whitewash from a pick and go drive to move the scores to 19-15.

With only four points in it, Hoppers had the ascendency and dominated the set-piece.

Another Allen penalty lit Hoppers just one point behind their hosts, whose pack were struggling to deal with the visitor’s physicality.

However, Hoppers failed to capitalise on their period is sustained pressure, and a breakaway score from Scunthorpe’s Ash Dibden with nine minutes to spare have the host’s a much needed victory.