Don't believe you eyes

Hoppers’ poor run of away results continued with a exasperating performance away to a struggling Huddersfield. However, the 50-5 score line does not reflect the game as Hoppers’ dominated for the vast majority and could have walked away with a win.

In high insight the writing was on the wall in the first minute; Hoppers’ failed to deal with the opening kick-off and then missed some crucial tackles to allow Ben Harris to score with barely 40 seconds on the clock. The reliable Chris Johnson converted and the hosts had a seven point lead before some of the crowd had even reached their seats.

If the opening minute was a prelude for what was to come, the following 20 were an exercise in frustration with Hoppers’ wasted numerous chances to score. On at least three occasions they were presented will a guilt edged opportunity for points but poor passing and handling skills cost them dearly.

It wasn’t just the opposition and themselves that Hoppers’ were battling, they were also on the receiving end of some extremely poor officiating. The interpretation of scrimmaging laws was at times embarrassing and at others laughable, and the number of simple calls missed was simply staggering.

Johnson though was making no mistakes; he increased Huddersfield lead with a penalty and controlled the game well from fly-half, creating space for Tom Owen to cut through the defence and set up Mark Whitehead for the first of his three tries.

Hoppers did register some points when Jordan Pearson touched down following an impressive catch and drive after a penalty inside the 22 was kicked to touch and the sides went into the break 17-5. It was the least that they deserved as most of the play during the half was excellent. The pack dominated the line-out and the scrums and should have made more of their superiority.

The second half continued in much the same vain; Hoppers had the lion’s share of possession but were unable score, there would be halted by a dubious decision and then, from out of nowhere, Huddersfield would be crossing the line for a try.
Whitehead got his second after Johnson and scrum half Damien Clayton combined well from a quick penalty and Huddersfield wrapped up the bonus point when Adam Sutcliffe crossed after a nice backs move.

And Whitehead completed his hat trick when he was in the right place at the right time, after Hoppers’ lost possession.

Not even the late sin binning of Gavin Rhodes could halt the home side, as Nick Sharpe scored following another catastrophic mistake and Johnson rounded of the scoring when he cleverly chipped over a static defence to cross under the posts and take his personal tally to 20 points.

Hoppers’ Head Coach Alex Keay echoed fans thoughts saying that “we played better today than against Waterloo, but we must have wasted half a dozen excellent chances to score.”

Hoppers' squeeze past Waterloo

Hoppers achieved their second win in a row after an uninspiring performance against bottom side Waterloo. With both sides wasting several chances to score this was a fixture that Hoppers could easily have lost, but 15 points from Alex Zavallis-Roebuck and a well taken Phil Whyte try saw Hoppers home.

However, Hoppers did not have things go their own way and trailed for most of the game. Waterloo took the lead inside the opening ten minutes when scrum half Alex Rees squeezed over after a promising line-out looked to have gone to waste. Rees saw a slither of daylight and slipped in between the tacklers to score.


Roebuck reduced the deficit with the first of his five penalties a few minutes later and both sides could have added to their totals as promising backs moves were thwarted by some good defense and poor handling close to the line, the visitors could and possibly should have had two tries in the left corner.

Waterloo did increase their lead when Hoppers gave away a penalty from a scrum 5 metre’s from their own line. The visitors chose to take a line-out instead of going for 3 points and Ryan McKie capitalized on the gaping hole in the Hoppers defence. James O’Brian added the extras.

Hoppers had a number of chances to put points on the board as good work from the likes of Roebuck, Jordan Pearson and Sean Taylor went begging and the had to settle for two more Roebuck penalties and went into the break trailing 9-12.

Roebuck drew the sides level shortly after the restart with his fourth penalty but the second half continued in the same vain as the first with plenty of opportunities but neither side able to convert. In the final quarter the referee’s whistle started to dominate and the game began to lose all momentum.

James Smith was harshly sent to the sin bin for what was nothing more than a physical tackle and minutes later the referee evened up the numbers by showing a yellow card to the visitor’s impressive number 8 Njike Tchakoute. With slightly more space to work in and the addition of some fresh legs of the bench Hoppers took control of the final ten minutes and sneaked into the lead with Roebuck’s fifth penalty goal. Things got worse for Waterloo just minutes after they had surrendered the lead, prop John Nuttall was shown a straight red card for a stamp.

Hoppers saved the best till last though as they rounded off the game with a superb try in the closing minutes. Pearson got things rolling with a determined run into the heart of the Waterloo defence. Dominic Moon and Russell Flynn combined well to put Whyte in space and the centre was not going to be denied on his return to first team action as he backed himself in a two-on-one to beat his man and raced away to score.

Happy Hoppers finally win in 2010

Hoppers finally recorded their first win of 2010 with victory over struggling Broadstreet. As neither side had registered a win this year something had to give. Even though Hoppers got off to the best start possible they floundered in the second half and allowed Broadstreet to attempt an unlikely comeback.

The home side were in the ascendancy from the outset and quickly got into their stride. After visiting prop Paul Hurst was shown a yellow card in the opening minutes for a punch, the home pack took control of proceedings and after electing to take a line out from the resulting penalty they used the catch and drive efficiently and Mark Irving scored on his return from injury. Nick Smith converted well from the touchline and Hoppers had a 7-0 lead.

After being camped in Broadstreet’s half for the majority of the man advantage Hoppers scored their second try in spectacular fashion. Street tried to clear their lines but a poor kick went straight to Tom Ball, who gathered well and shot down the left touch line. He then cut inside and beat a couple of would be tacklers before offloading a perfectly timed pass to a rampaging Sean Taylor who came on to the ball at pace and touched down by the posts. Smith again converted and the home support was reminded of the kind of free flowing attacking rugby that Hoppers had been playing before the extended Christmas break. Smith added a penalty a couple of minutes later and Hoppers had scored 17 points with the man advantage.

The third try came just before the half hour mark again as a result of a brilliant individual break. This time it was Alex Zavallis-Roebuck who broke the line from a set move before showing great strength to not only fend off one would be tackler but to drag a couple more a few extra yards sucking in more Street players. Hoppers were able to recycle the ball quickly and used the space well, moving the ball quickly to the left where men were lined up and Ben Davey was on hand to score. Broadstreet tried to get something before the half but were denied by some strong defence, in particular a fantastic try saving tackle by Zavallis-Roebuck right at the end of the half.

Hoppers took a 22-0 advantage into the break and must have been relishing an easy second half but the game was turned on its head and things did not go to plan.

In a reversal of fortune it was now Hoppers turn to play with a man disadvantage as Jordan Pearson was surprisingly shown a yellow card just minutes after the restart. He was quickly joined by John Young, for handling at the ruck, who had only come on to the field as a half time replacement.
With Hoppers down to 13 men Street threw everything at them but were met with a resolute defence. The visitors finally made their man advantage count when Wayne Lester found himself with a two-on-one, Lester backed his own ability and made it to the line. Street added a second try ten minutes later when Andy McGrory latched on to a perfectly weighted cross field kick and won the foot race to the corner. McGrory used his strength to shake of the covering defence but should never have been allowed to score from such a tight position.

Hoppers never got back into rhythm during the second half and replacement Nick Thatcher powered over in the closing minutes to set up a tense finish. Street had moved the ball from left to right and stretched the home defence to the limits, although Hoppers effectively slowed down the ball there were gaps in the line and Thatcher picked on a smaller opponent and smashed straight through him, Dan Richards slotted the conversion to bring the visitors back from the dead and they were now trailing by just five points with five minutes to go. However, Broadstreet never really got a chance as the rest of the game was played deep in their half.

However, even though another match seemed to be slipping away, Hoppers hung on for a much needed win but the first half performance shows what they are capable of doing, with a dominant performance from the pack in the loose and at set plays and the young backs carving the opposition apart on a number of occasions.