Hoppers left it late but two tries in the final ten minutes saw them squeeze past Morley and record their first win since January. This was far from a perfect performance as they wasted several good chances against an inferior side that were comfortably disposed of in their first meeting back in October during Hoppers six game winning streak.
Head Coach Dave Baldwin was ‘pleased to get the win’ but wasn’t happy with the overall performance, he said: “the game was in the balance with 20 minutes to go and this was a game that we would have lost with the performances over the last few weeks, there is a hell of a lot to work on as we keep making simple mistakes. We missed out on picking up a bonus point as we ended up being dragged into a dog fight.”
Hoppers started brightly after absorbing some early pressure and scrum half James Smith continued his fine form from the previous week with a great break and after Morley infringed at the ruck Mark Edwards kicked Hoppers to a 3-0 lead. The joy was short lived as the restart wasn’t gathered properly and Peter Martin crossed for the visitors after a good break from centre partner Michael Ash.
Tom Hughes, in yet another man of the match performance, was a constant threat to the Morley defence and was at the heart of Hoppers good work, he twice made impressive breaks which fell just short, combining well with Tom Ashton and then Dominic Moon only for play to be held up in goal. From the resulting 5m scrum, after the pack had obliterated the visitors, Hughes took matters into his own hands to score. Edwards added the extras and Hoppers were back in front.
The lead however lasted just five minutes as Tom Moody was able to power over after Morley had worked an impressive catch and drive inside the Hoppers 22, after sucking in the defence the back row was able to break away into acres of space to touchdown, Mark Pease slotted the conversion. Hoppers did go into the half with the lead as Tommy Bell, who replaced the injured Edwards after half an hour, kicked a penalty just before halftime.
The second half continued in the same vain as Hoppers squandered opportunities to kill off the contest and Morley were able to capitalise on turn overs and some poor defence but lacked the finishing touch to convert themselves. Hoppers extended their lead with a booming Bell penalty from just inside his own half but fell behind again after more poor tackling allowed Morley deep into the 22 and a neat chip over the top was touched down by wing Koby Gyast when it looked like Hoppers had cover.
Hughes came to the rescue of Hoppers and took over the final minutes by scoring and the setting up a try to spare the home sides blushes. Hoppers pack launched into a physically dominating catch and drive, making at least 20 metres before Bell’s delicate chip was collected by Hughes by the posts. He then made a trademark scything through the heart of the defence before releasing Tom Ashton who had far too much pace for the visiting defence to seal the game in some style.
Hoppers need to build on these recent home performances and must improve if they are to get anything from the trip to Kendal and the next home game against local rival Fylde.
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