Hull at home for Hoppers

Date: 10 February 2014

The game is postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Preston Grasshoppers vs. Hull – Kick Off 2.30pm

Head Coach Michael Lough shuffles the second third of the pack this week with Rich Morton starting at lock forward and Sam Wallbank moving to the blind side flank whilst Kilian Wallace takes a turn on the bench.

Hoppers backs line up as last Saturday at Darlington Mowden Park and Alan Holmes is added to the bench together with Harry Moulding who will be looking to make his debut.

1 Danny Madden, 2 Phil Mills, 3 Pete Altham, 4 Ally Murray, 5 Richard Morton, 6 Sam Wallbank, 7 Eddie Webster, 8 Dominic Moon (Captain), 9 Craig Aikman, 10 Lloyd Davies, 11 Sam Kendall, 12 Jack Ward, 13 Phil Baines, 14 Adam Birchall, 15 Sean Taylor.

Replacements:

16 Alan Holmes, 17 Andy Irving, 18 Will Lees, 19 Kilian Wallace, 20 Harry Moulding.

Preston Grasshoppers welcome Hull to Lightfoot Green this coming Saturday and will be hoping to build on what was a promising second half performance against Darlington Mowden Park last weekend. A sparse crowd in the region of just two hundred in the enormous stadium witnessed some determined rugby from the visitors for a large portion of the contest and it was fitting that skipper Dominic Moon should mark his one hundredth game for Hoppers with his fiftieth try in a league match for the club. A late converted try for the home side in their only visit to Hoppers Red Zone of the second half, denied the visitors a much deserved losing bonus point.

'Mooney 50'

‘Mooney’ with the match ball after scoring his 50th league try in his 100th appearance last week at DMP.

Following on from Dominic Moon’s landmark appearance last week, Ally Murray will be looking at the team sheet later this week to see if he’s in line to make his fiftieth appearance for the club since making his debut during the 2011-12 season off the bench in the home fixture against Westoe on the 1st of October.

Ally Murray takes the line out ball leading to Dominic Moon’s try last Saturday

Our visitors from Yorkshire will be intent on preventing Hoppers completing a double over them this season and continuing their recent good form which has seen them pull away from the bottom three clubs in our league, winning half of their twelve games since the two teams met at The Ferens Ground back in early November. Before that game Hull had recorded just a single victory and that over bottom club Dudley Kingswinford.

Fixtures against Hull’s ‘Town’ Club are only recent events, the first taking place back in the 2004/5 season at their old ground Howarth Road when Hoppers were victorious by thirty four points to thirty two. The home team missed a late kick at goal for victory helping Hoppers on their way to promotion. The statistics tell us there to have been twelve meetings between the two clubs with Hoppers holding the upper hand, winning seven including a win in a National Cup tie to Hull’s four successes plus an eighteen all draw.

Other games being played by Hoppers Senior teams this coming Saturday include;

Hoppers 2 vs. Sedgley Park 2 (Away)

Hoppers 3 vs. Leigh 2 (Away)

Hoppers 4 vs. Eccles 3 (Away)

Hoppers 5 vs. No Fixture

Hoppers 6 vs. Chorley 2 (Home)

Photographs Courtesy of Mike Forshaw.

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