Hull Ionians 33 Preston Grasshoppers 29: ​Hoppers defeated right at the death

Tries from Jacob Browne, Jake Maher, and a Tom Lee double secured a bonus point before half-time, but Hoppers had to settle with a losing bonus point thanks to George Mewburn's last-minute score.

Preston opened the scoring after seven minutes when the Ionians' covering defender fumbled Ben Pearson's kick-through, which allowed Browne to collect and feed the onrushing Lee to score, with Pearson converting.

Lee scored his second try five minutes later, which Pearson converted.

But buoyed by the home crowd, the Yorkshire outfit fought back, with Mewburn scoring from an emphatic rolling maul which Lewis Minikin duly converted.

A goalline dropout which sailed straight into touch gave Hoppers a scrum five metres out from the hosts’ line, and a solid set-piece saw Pearson feed Browne to power over, but the fly-half failed to convert.

Maher wrapped up a clinical first-half Hoppers performance when capitalising on an inaccurate pass to intercept in his own half and go the distance to score, with Pearson successful from the kicking tee.

Ionians started the second half with intent when Minikin latched on to Ben Smith's clever chip to score the host's second and then converted his own try.

Lucas Powell narrowed the deficit in the 48th minute with Ionians’ third try, with Minikin converting.

Ionians took the lead after a spill from Hoppers saw Powell kick through for Minikin to touch down, and the outside centre converted to complete the turnaround.

Preston regained the lead in the 76th minute when Pearson kicked a penalty in front of the posts to give hope of a craved-away victory.

Minikin missed the opportunity to turn the game back in Ionians' favour after his long-range penalty attempt drifted wide, but Mewburn had the final say when he stormed down the left to score the winning try despite a hint of crossing.

Hoppers head coach Dan Orwin said: "To concede like that at the end is devastating.

"But proud of the boys, to leave here with two bonus points and again so close on the scoreboard is a credit to them."