Preston Grasshoppers snatch stoppage-time victory against Heath in National Two North opener
Preston Grasshoppers head coach Dan Orwin praised his side's resilience after they clinched a stoppage-time victory against Heath in their National Two North opener, despite some failings that need to be addressed.
Fourteen points down after just eight minutes of the National Two North season, Preston Grasshoppers dug deep to clinch a stoppage-time victory against the league’s new boys Heath.
Hoppers head coach Dan Orwin said he was proud of his side’s effort, but acknowledged some failings that need to be addressed.
“We didn’t keep the ball well in attack,” he said, “and I’m not particularly happy with our performance.“
Heath kept the ball well and put us under pressure. Hoppers giving away penalties was just what they wanted. We also gave them hope by not starting well in the second half.
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“It would have been nice to get a four-try bonus point.
But the key thing was that we didn’t panic. I always knew that we’d get into the game.”
Heath made the best possible start in their debut at this level, scrum-half Tom Egan dummying over from a ruck on the line after two minutes.
Lock Peter Hampshire quickly followed, also from close range, and Lancashire skipper Chris Johnson, formerly of Fylde, converted both.
Harry Holden immediately hit back for the hosts with a try from a line-out drive, converted by Sam Freeman, and Hoppers drew level on 24 minutes, when fly-half Josh Ree darted over from a scrum.
Freeman again converted and also added the extras to a touchdown by winger Zeph Maher following a line-out and down-the-line passing.
A Freeman penalty made it 24-14 at the break. With Hoppers No. 8 Tom Ailes sinbinned early in the second half, Heath capitalised with an unconverted try by winger Jake Haynes, who put the game on a knife-edge 15 minutes from time with a second score, converted by Johnson to regain the lead.
But the visitors presented Hoppers with two late penalty chances. Freeman missed the first, slightly more difficult effort, but nervelessly landed the second for the narrowest of victories.
Despite his reservations about the overall performance, Orwin was delighted with the contributions of new boys Matt Sturgess, singled out for his game management at scrum-half, and Mark Jennings, who formed a solid defensive centre pairing with man-of-the-match Ben Haigh.