Conditions were bright and warm in the sunshine, although the cool wind, whipping up a dust storm from the car park, made the spectators glad of a warm coat.

Northwich started well as Tom Clarke gathered the Northwich kick-off and drove his team towards the Hoppers line. Northwich had much of the possession in the first ten minutes as they battled into the Grasshoppers’ 22 only to be denied a score by the solid defence which has been a cornerstone of their season’s success.

There was also a setback for the visitors when, after only ten minutes, a very dazed Jacob Browne had to be led off the field due to a blow to the head.

When the visitors finally secured the ball the tide turned and having gained a lineout on their hosts’ 5m line, Hoppers attacked the try line and were awarded a penalty. They opted to scrum and performed a trademark peel from the base to score the first points. With a tricky wind behind him Ben Pearson sent the ball goalwards where it hit the upright and was fortunately deflected between the posts.

Shortly after the restart a scuffle broke out and a red card shown to Northwich’s Baille, who had travelled several very obvious metres to join in and swing a few punches, then opened the floodgates.

The Hoppers Bonus Point was collected on the half hour mark when Jordan Dorrington blazed his way through the defence to score mid-way between the corner flag and the post. Pearson added the extras to keep the score board moving, 0 – 28.
The fifth try was not long in coming 0 – 33.

With less than five minutes of the half remaining, a clearance kick from Hoppers took them from their own 5m line to that of their opposition to score the sixth try and Pearson had no difficulty from in front of the goal to make the score at the whistle a healthy 0 – 40.

The second half brought continuing misery to the Northwich faithful. The clock had only ticked off three minutes when the opposition broke from the half way line all the way to the Northwich line and another score. Hoppers repeated this feat just four minutes later 0 – 52.

Then a real ray of light shone into the Northwich gloom. As Hoppers mounted yet another onslaught on their hosts’ 5m line the Northwich fullback, Naylor, intercepted a pass and then showed a real turn of speed which took him past the opposition, all the way to the Hoppers’ 22. A try looked a certainty until, in an apparent rush of blood to the head, he decided to kick on and the ball was lost forward, much to the relief of the sprinting Hoppers’ defenders.

Northwich were not to go away empty-handed though. They managed to battle their way towards the Hoppers’ 22 and were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. With the wind behind him, winger Husbands confidently slotted the kick, relieving the embarrassment of a second nil loss to the Preston side and making the score 3 – 64.

Despite the three points gained by their hosts, Hoppers’ now had full control of the game and were driving the opposition at will.

We now look forward to revisiting old friends across the north west of England as we move back into familiar surroundings following the RFU league restructure. Next season offers some interesting changes. The squad has had fantastic support at all the matches and long may that remain! Have an excellent summer and let’s look forward to next season.