A second-half fight-back by Preston Grasshoppers fell agonisingly short and they had to settle for opening the National League Two North season with a couple of bonus points.

There were fears of a rout at half-time as they went in 20-8 in arrears, but they rallied strongly and could have clinched a draw had ex-Fylde fly-half Greg Smith been able to round off his debut with a late conversion.

Head coach Dan Orwin said: “I am happy that we got back in it after half-time.

"We’d have rolled over in a game like that last season but we’re disappointed not to have won.

Action from the game as Hoppers were narrowly beaten by Chester (photo: Mike Craig)

placeholder image — Action from the game as Hoppers were narrowly beaten by Chester (photo: Mike Craig)

“We started quite well and got a bit of momentum.

"But we’ve got to minimise the errors. You can’t have three negative moments in quick succession.

“However, I was very happy with our defending at the end of the first half and we can take a lot of heart from the game.”

New winger Owain Williams made an instant impression, beating the Chester defence to Smith’s high kick in the first minute and rounding off his display with Hoppers’ bonus-point try with a swallow dive to the corner, after good work by fellow debutant Sammy Russell.

But the man-of-the-match award went to hooker Harry Holden, who bagged a try in the fourth minute and went on to complete a hat-trick as Hoppers’ line-out drives bore fruit.

Chester fly-half Morgan Bradshaw kept pushing the hosts back and landed two penalties and the conversions of centre Rhys Hamilton’s brace of tries to establish a dominant position after the first 40 minutes.

Hoppers’ only response was a penalty by Smith and things looked bleak when skipper Scott Richardson was sin-binned just before the break.

Holden sparked Hoppers’ revival in the first minute of the second period with another unconverted try, but Chester reclaimed their 12-point lead with winger Joe Heaton’s try.

Scores by Holden and Williams revived home hopes, with Smith converting the second from the touchline to level the scores at 25-25.

But as the penalty toll mounted against Hoppers, the visitors looked to have clinched it with a close-range try by prop Josh Woods, converted by Bradshaw.

The hosts refused to give up, though, and forward Cam Wilkinson crashed over from another line-out. In the last play of the game, Smith’s kick drifted wide.