Preston Grasshoppers’ impressive home run ended by Alnwick

Man-of-the-match Moir landed five second-half penalties, a splendid drop goal and the conversions of both his side’s tries to drop Hoppers to third place in the North Premier League.

Home home coach Paul Arnold had no quibbles with the emphatic scoreline.

“They wanted it far more than us and that’s what really hurts,” he said.

“They played the conditions so well while our game management was poor. They were beating as at almost everything – you’ve got to do more than just scrummage well – and we were so slow at the breakdown.

“There will be a few of our players who won’t be able to look at themselves in the mirror tonight, although Toby Harrison and Sam Gale worked hard in the back 
row.”

Hoppers started breezily enough with a third-minute try for Jacob Browne after strong pressure from the forwards. Tom Walker, who supplied the scoring pass, added the conversion.

But, with Jordan Dorrington yellow-carded for a high tackle as Alnwick hit back strongly, the visitors quickly took advantage and saw hooker James Cowan go over from a line-out drive.

Both sides had chances over the next 15 minutes without being able to capitalise, but Alnwick eventually grabbed their second converted try, by scrum-half Hugh Todd, after a driving maul.

Remarkably, the only points in the second half came from Moir.

Although the penalty count was pretty much even, most of those conceded by Hoppers were well within 
his range, whereas the hosts were awarded very few kickable ones – and by that stage were so far adrift that they were forced to opt for kicks to the corner or 
scrums.

The scrum was one of the few good points of Hoppers’ performance, but Alnwick No.8 Ben Gothorp worked wonders to rescue possession despite the pressure on his pack.

With the wind gusting down the pitch behind him, Moir made much better use of the conditions than Hoppers had in the first half, to keep the visitors in the attacking driving seat.

To add to their woes, Walker went off with an ankle injury, while there will be worries about a malfunctioning line-out as well as a general feeling that Hoppers were second best in almost every aspect of only their second defeat.