An early try out wide for LSH looked to set the tone for how the afternoon would go, but the resilient Hoppers side shortly fought back. After applying consistent pressure in the opposition half there came a storming charge from prop Wes Mukonoweshuro to cross the whitewash, levelling the match at 5-5.

Looking to continue the momentum, Hoppers managed to apply more midfield pressure. A perfectly timed short pass from fly half Kian Slater put back row Brad Harrison into space, where he opened up his stride, making a 20m break. As all good scrum halves do, Jacob Murray was there to back him up and took the pop pass as Brad was tackled. 10m short of the line, the forwards took over and rumbled through several close quarter phases before a pick and go from second row Josh Thacker sealed the try, making it 5-10.

The game opened up at this point with both teams creating space and exploiting gaps in a tit for tat manner, but neither team managing to convert the opportunities into points.

As he did all afternoon, captain Joey Edwards put pressure on the LSH lineout, and the latest steal offered an opportunity for prop Ed Rowell to have one of his many storming runs through the midfield to put Hoppers on the front foot. From this, another excellent display from the forwards allowed a pick and go for Wes to get his 2nd try of the match.

At 5-15 and 3 successive tries, it looked like the game would open up for Hoppers, but LSH responded with another play out wide to dot down in the corner, exploiting a narrow Hoppers defence, bringing the game to 10-15.

Again, Hoppers stuck to the rugby fundamentals and from the restart just continued to apply the pressure, forcing a penalty from LSH. A quick tap from Jacob Murray put the opposition on the back foot, and quick ball allowed hands out wide for Brad Harrison to dot down.

10-20 at the half.

Hoppers continued their dominance in the second half, and with a solid scrum platform, the backs executed a wonderful strike play with full back Cam Scott cutting a great line to finish off the move, taking the score to 10-25.

Yet again, with controlled phase play, they kept turning the screw and applying pressure, and vice captain Luke Salisbury continued to lead the attacking charge, getting the forwards through phase after phase of work. An unfortunate turnover saw LSH try and clear their lines with a kick, but instead of finding touch, it found the hands of Joe Sutton, who had to play out of position on the wing. A blinding run down the touchline saw him pass 3 defenders and on drawing the last one in he played a well-timed pass to Brad Harrison on the inside to score his 2nd of the match. Unfortunately, due to a very ill-judged tackle from LSH whilst Brad dotted down, he suffered a broken nose and had to come off.

Jacob Murray then took the score to 10-35 with some individual brilliance. A pick and go from the breakdown into space and a perfectly judged chip and chase over the full back made for an easy tap down of the ball for another Hoppers try.

Soon after, an LSH player was sent to the bin for a no arms tackle. A quick tap penalty from Hoppers saw pressure on the line again, but the LSH back row secured a penalty at the breakdown. Looking to play from their own 22, LSH took a quick tap themselves and nearly exploited the space out wide, but outside centre Alex Wood tracked them down, made a sensational covering tackle, got back on his feet and stole the ball back for Hoppers.

Another scrum platform with the opposition 22m allowed Kian Slater to play another excellent short ball to centre Ben Whewell running the perfect line to split the defence and go over for a try. The first conversion of the game scored from this try by flanker Jamie Atherton.

Not wanting that to be the only points he scored, Atherton, playing out of position on the wing, had a moment of individual brilliance down the wing cutting past multiple defenders to score a sensational try from 25m in the final play of the game. He followed that up with another conversion giving Hoppers the victory at 10-49.

A resilient performance from the team, despite an arduous and physical start to the game, fighting back and show grit to see out the game convincingly.