It was the worst start possible for Dan Orwin’s side as captain Josh Longson was forced off within the first five minutes with a dislocated shoulder.

Moments after, the hosts opened the scoring, Euan Walker putting five on the board before Ben Smith converted to extend the lead to seven.
Hoppers found themselves whilst lots of possession in the first half but struggled to break down the Ionian’s defence.

The Yorkshire outfit were clinical with their chances and thanks to a pair of tries from Maliq Holden were able to extend their lead to 17-0 at the half.

It would be a fair analysis that Hoppers would feel slightly hard done by at how the scoreline read after 40 minutes.

Sam Freeman was unlucky to slip whilst attempting to put three on the board and Ionians possibly got one too many warnings rather than cards on high tackles committed.

Three minutes after the restart and Ionians lead increased to 24 when Adam Brankley’s try was converted by Smith.

Hoppers put their first points on the board courtesy of Sam Freeman who showed a nice burst of pace to break through the Ionians line and score.

He made no mistake when converting his try too.

Pressure continued to be piled on to the Ionians line but without a breakthrough for the Lancashire side and the hosts continued to be clinical when in possession.

Three tries followed for the hosts to end the match, one for Man of the Match Jonny Clark and two for scrum-half Sam Pocklington.

Only one out of three of those tries were successfully converted by Ben Smith with the final score reading 41-7.

Hoppers headed back across the Pennines with no points and another two players added to the injury list, winger Owain Williams forced off in the 2nd half with concussion.

Head coach Dan Orwin stated that his side “didn’t take their chances in the first half” but also that next weeks all Lancashire clash between Hoppers and Fylde is a chance to right any wrongs but knows his players will have to “put in a big shift”.

Louis Jefferson