Hull 3, Preston Grasshopper 10: Hoppers battle Hull and conditions to register well-deserved win

​With heavy rain throughout and a light breeze, it was surprising how well the game flowed.

Some ambitious rugby was on display by both sides, with relatively few handling errors for the conditions.

During the opening 15 minutes, several exchanges of kicks characterised the game, with some snappy passing in evidence.

Preston's strong defensive work held true, and their play maker Greg Smith broke the deadlock with a successful penalty kick after 23 minutes.

The remainder of the first half demonstrated a pattern of interplay between backs and forwards of each team.

Hull regained parity with their own successful penalty kick by stand-off Reece Dean on 53 minutes.

After some enterprising overhead passing, flanker Scott Richardson broke through the Hull defensive line, and further passes resulted in Jacob Browne rounding the final two defenders and leaping over the try line for five points.

Smith's successful conversion made it 10-3 to the Hoppers in the 63rd minute. This score seemed to bolster Hoppers' confidence and good discipline and steely defence were the order of the rest of the game, as Hull sought parity, in vain.

The outcome was a good and fair reflection of the match, during which Hull refused to give up.

Both fly halves deservedly won their respective player-of-the-match awards, with Hoppers' Smith possibly showing a touch more class.

Hoppers' head coach Dan Orwin was delighted with his players, and felt that Preston's hard work in training was paying off.

He felt his team demonstarted excellent defensive work and improved discipline, and the outcome against a side that is always tough to crack, especially at their home ground, was well deserved.