Sheffield Tigers 27 Preston Grasshoppers 34: Last-gasp Freeman try earns triumph
Hoppers beat Sheffield Tigers in dramatic fashion with a last-minute try to take five points back home with them.
The score was 27-27 as the clock went into the red, but debutant Sam Freeman crossed the whitewash with no time left, to secure a well-worked win for Dan Orwin’s (right) men.
It took all of two minutes for the first try of the match, when the Tigers managed to carry their way forwards before James Norman eventually burst over the line.
Hoppers responded just two minutes later, Ally Murray drove the ball forwards before sending the ball out to Josh Ree, who the opposition struggled to bring down. He played in Tyler Spence who had the easy job of scoring.
Three tries in the opening eight minutes of the match saw Tigers score next, Will Baker slipped his way through before giving the ball to Dominic Santamaria who dragged himself over the line.
Hoppers were pushing well and opted to go for three points to close the gap down to four, when Greg Smith coolly slotted his penalty under the posts.
And they would take the lead for the first time when Ree made his way over for a well-worked try on his debut. Hoppers defended well and turned the ball over in Tigers half, before Ree produced an excellent run round the outside.
The hosts started to get on the ball more towards the end of the half, and despite Hoppers’ best efforts, Tigers did manage to secure a try, James Broadley slipping through this time, before offloading to Baker who scored.
Coming out in the second half with a 17-15 lead, Tigers held on to the ball well. They struggled to make their way through, so opted to go for the penalty to stretch their lead to five points.
Hoppers managed to win a scrum from the restart, and the ball came out wide before travelling back inside to Danny Maher who produced a powerful drive to push himself over.
And with 20 minutes to go, the visitors had another, this time Hugo Castle dotting down after an excellent maul snuck its way over and gave Hoppers a seven-point lead.
With 10 minutes to go, the scores were level, when Tigers’ Will Bennet pushed himself over the line after a tap penalty.
It was looking like Tigers would be the team to secure the match-winning points in the final 10 minutes, holding more of the ball.
But Hoppers’ defence stood strong and managed to turn the ball over. They worked their way up the pitch with a penalty, and some good play. And in the 80th minute Freeman managed to slip his way through, before sprinting over to win the match in dramatic fashion.