A hat trick from captain Danny Maher, two tries from Sale Sharks loanee Alfie Longstaff and an early Ed Keohane try saw Hoppers score six tries on route to a crucial 41-21, despite playing nearly 70 minutes of the match with 14 men after Jacob Browne received a red card.

Nerves could be felt all around Preston before the match, with Harrogate, Hoppers, Billingham and Hull all facing the threat of relegation with the bottom side at the end of the day being relegated.

Hoppers knew that if they win, then survival would be secure, but after suffering seven losses on the bounce, they knew they would have to put a big performance in.

Chester had the first chance of the match, with an earl penalty but the kick fell short and rolled long.

But from the restart, Browne received a red card after mistiming his tackle and taking out his opponent in the air.

Something that could’ve made Hoppers drop their heads, seemingly galvanised the side to stay strong.

And Hoppers had their first try after 16 minutes, Keohane picked up the ball and dinked it past his defender. He kicked it again, and everyone in the ground thought it was going long, but Longstaff fought to keep it in, hitting the ball back in before Keohane pounced on it to score.

Chester did take the lead with two quick tries in two minutes, the first after Ben Ivory powered his way through the middle, the second came from McMinimee who powered over from close range at the second time of asking.

From their though, it was Hoppers on top. Longstaff grabbed his first, a couple of excellent offloads saw him get on the ball, and he slipped past his man to power over.

Maher then grabbed his first of the afternoon, when he slipped away from the maul and powered himself over.

The hosts received a yellow, presenting Hoppers with the perfect chance to grab a bonus point, and they took their opportunity, Maher bouncing off a tackle after Hoppers had pushed close several times before to get over.

Two minutes into the second half, Hoppers had a fifth, Longstaff shimmying through the defence before reaching forward to score.

And still with 30 minutes to go, Josh Ree slotted his penalty to put Hoppers 22 points ahead of Chester.

Maher secured his hattrick five minutes later, with the rolling maul forcing its way over to put Hoppers on 41 points.

Chester scored with 20 minutes to go to put the nerves back in the side, after a quick tap from Dave Jones saw them catch out Hoppers.

The minutes started to tick down however, and the closer it came to full time, the more the nerves started to ease, but Hoppers didn’t switch off and held on strong till the very end.

And the ref blew full time to confirm Hopper’s place in the National Two North again next season.

It proved a crucial win, as both Harrogate and Hull won their matches, meaning anything other than a win would’ve meant Hoppers would’ve been relegated, but there was celebration come full time.

By Tom Kelly