Grasshoppers visit The Den

After last weeks 22-26 defeat at Lightfoot Green against Macclesfield, the Grasshoppers face the Leicester Lions this Saturday.

The Grasshoppers who travel to the Den, the home of the Lions, will be looking for a repeat of the fantastic performance they gave against the hosts earlier in the season when they won 34-8.

The Lions are unbeaten in four games after some impressive performances against Hull Ionians, Bradford and Bingley and Darlington Mowden Park. The Grasshoppers will also have to be aware of the boot of Jon Boden who has punished many teams, including three penalties against Kendal on Saturday.

Inspired

The Grasshoppers will be looking for another inspired performance from youngster Lee Imiolek. The England under 18 starlet, on loan from Sale Sharks, played a brilliantly against Macclesfield despite the result, and even managed to cap his performance with two tries.

The Grasshoppers could also take joy from the fact that despite their loss at the weekend they still managed to climb one place in the National Division Three North league table.

Tough

The Lions pose a tough test, with both teams evenly balanced in the league in sixth and seventh position, with the Lions having the slight edge with five points.

Indiscipline has been a sore point for Preston manager Alex Keay, after Lee Imiolek was yellow carded two weeks ago against Huddersfield he was disappointed to see club captain Darren Wilson penalised for punching in retaliation in the opening minutes against Macclesfield. Keay added that he is looking to improve the Grasshoppers indiscipline during the coming weeks.

“Hard”

Looking ahead to Saturdays clash with the Lions Keay added: “Going to the Den is a hard place to pick up points, but when we played them earlier in the season I didn’t think they looked that good and I think we will be able to punish their defence. But they have some good players, their second row is pretty strong and their full backs are quick.

“We also have a lot of injuries this week, about a dozen or so with Phil Whyte and John Peterson still out injured. These injuries disrupt the continuity of the side and it doesn’t help for competition for places, my squad is stretched to the limit.

“I was pleased with our defence last week but I’m looking to improve our line speed in training this week and try to develop more continuity into our play. We have to learn to keep control of the ball more and obviously when we lose it, get it back as quickly as possible.”

What chances do you think the Grasshoppers have of vixctory this weekend?
Leave your opinions below.

Macclesfield 26-22 Grasshoppers

Despite two tries from England U18 International Lee Imiolek, a late try from Macclesfield’s Ian Lear was all that could separate both teams in a hard fought encounter.

Macclesfield took an early lead through the boot of Ross Winney but Marcus Jackson responded with a penalty before Winney again converted a penalty to retake the lead.

Macclesfield scored the first try of the game through Dan Baines, however the Grasshoppers responded immediately by driving over the line from a line out with Lee Imiolek putting the ball down for his first try.

Relied

After a second try from Macclesfield’s Fergus Mulcrone and a Winney conversion, the Grasshoppers again relied on the boot of Jackson to make the score 14-18 at half time.

The Grasshoppers started the second half the strongest and after a second Imiolek try and, after a penalty from both side, a tense finish was in store for the supporters. However a late try from Lear guaranteed the points for Macclesfield at the final whistle.

Do you think the Grasshoppers performance was dissapointing today?

Leave your comments below.

Grasshoppers face Macclesfield

After a fantastic 17-13 home victory against league strugglers Huddersfield, Preston Grasshoppers face a difficult test away to Macclesfield.

Macclesfield, who currently sit fourth in the National Division Three North subjected the Grasshoppers to 35 -14 defeat when they visited Lightfoot Green earlier in the season in a game which manager Alex Keay was disappointed to lose:

“We were by far the best team on the field, we scored two good early tries and commanded the game until the last 20 minutes where they just ripped us apart.”

Keay was still disappointed however after their victory over Huddersfield at the weekend:

“Disappointed”

“We deserved to win the match and I’m pleased we did, but I’m still a bit disappointed with the performance, because we didn’t play well.

“But the conditions didn’t help and that’s why most of our points had to come off the boot. But I would love to see us play with a bit more flair; I like to see us running with the ball and ultimately making it more entertaining for the fans.”

The Grasshoppers’ only try of the match was scored by Phil Whyte, however it was club captain Darren Wilson who received high praise from Keay for his contribution to the try:

“Darren’s build up play was fantastic, different class even, he is playing magnificently at the moment and his contribution to the team is immense.”

Poor

Keay was very disappointed with the level of refereeing he and his team have been on the receiving end of lately after another poor decision from the referee in giving Lee Imiolek a yellow card 20 minutes before the end of the Huddersfield match:

“It was never a yellow card, he was the tackler in that situation is entitled to go for the ball. But yellow cards are just part and parcel of the game now and sometimes referees get big decisions wrong.”

The Grasshoppers will be without Whyte for the next few weeks after he suffered a fractured cheek bone against Huddersfield. John Peterson will also be out for the Macclesfield clash with an injured ankle. However Keay is hopeful that one or two of his long casualties may be able to pass fitness test during the week.

Risks

The boss would also like to see his team take more risks during games after been bored watching his team play last weekend:

“We are going to have to play better than we did last week to beat Macclesfield. We never looked like taking risks and we were always looking to kick the ball up field or turn it over. We need to be running at them and putting them under pressure”

The Grasshoppers opponents in the Lancashire Cup Final will also be decided tonight when Fylde take on Broughton in the semi final. Many Grasshoppers fans are calling for Keay to field a full strength squad in the final but he is prepared to stick by the players who have got him there:

“We have to give this Cup the respect it deserves but we have been playing a team which will develop our long term squad and they have been playing magnificently in every round and it would be harsh to drop them for the final.”

Will the Grasshoppers be victorious this weekend?
Leave your comments on their chances and my post below.

Preston win war of the roses

In a hard fought match with Lancashire pride at stake, Preston Grasshoppers came out 19-13 winners over Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield.

The match, which was plagued by errors due to the awful weather conditions at Lightfoot Green, started with Preston’s Marcus Jackson scoring the opening points with a penalty. Preston then added to their lead with their only try of the match when Phil Whyte went over after 10 minutes.

Huddersfield responded just before half time with a well worked try from Mark Whitehead and a conversion from Chris Johnson.

Penalties

The Grasshoppers extended their lead in the second half with three penalties from the boot of Jackson with Huddersfield only scoring one from the boot of Johnson.

Grasshopper fans faced a nervy finish after they finished the match with only 14 men after Lee Imiolek was yellow carded and Johnson converted the resulting penalty. However Preston held strong despite Huddersfield throwing all they had at them and secured a vital victory

Did the Grasshoppers deserve their victory?

Leave your comments below.

‘Hoppers aim to bounce back

PRESTON Grasshoppers face a hard trip to Huddersfield this weekend after a disappointing 19-27 defeat at the hands of Loughborough Students last Saturday

With Preston dropping to seventh in the Northern Division 3 table they face Huddersfield who, although lying third from bottom, can help guarantee their future in the division with four points.

On a four match losing streak, Huddersfield went down 18-22 in their Yorkshire derby against Bradford and Bingley last weekend.

Star

The Grasshoppers could face trouble against Huddersfield’s young star, winger Matt Clark. The Academy player was not only Huddersfield’s man of the match in his debut last week, but also topped his fine performance with a brilliant try.

Defeat at home to Loughborough Students has now all but ended any remaining hopes of promotion.

Preston can still look for consolation in the Lancashire Cup after a 24-17 victory at home to Waterloo in the Semi Final saw them progress to the Final in spectacular fashion.

Semi-final

Preston will find out who they will face in the final as Broughton Park travel to Fylde in the other semi final.

Preston, who in their remaining eight fixtures of the season face all top six sides in the division, need the five points available on Saturday.

Otherwise they could enter the hardest part of their season with only 10 points separating them and the bottom three.

“Disappointed”

Preston first team coach Paul Manley said: ”After a good sequence of wins we are very disappointed to have lost at home, however we know what we did wrong and we will be looking to improve on this.

“Last week was just a bad day at the office but we’re looking to win every game and we will be looking to take all five points this weekend.

“Balanced”

Preston head coach Alex Keay added, “We never see any game as a guaranteed win, this is a very evenly balanced league and Huddersfield pose as much a threat as Loughboruogh did last week.

“I was very angry after the defeat at the weekend and I made this very clear to the players at full time. I was very disappointed with the level of officiating too, which to be honest was very interesting at times.

Do you think the Grasshoppers will win this week?
Leave your comments below.
“We will be without Adam Crisp this weekend after he was injured against Loughborough and Tom Hughes who has got a recurring shoulder injury after playing for UCLAN (University of Central Lancashire). Apart from them it’s a full squad for the match.

Students kill Grasshoppers

After winning their last five games, Preston Grasshoppers’ dreams of promotion were brought crashing back down to earth by the Loughborough Students in a 19-27 defeat.

Loughborough’s Phil Burgess ran over three tries to not only give his side victory, but also the important bonus point.

Loughborough’s superior speed and fitness was evident to all after just three minutes when, after playing a quick line-out, the ball was played from right to left before full back Pete Clarke scored.

Loughborough then extended their lead through Jack Bird who beat three men before crossing the line. Preston had Marcus Jackson to thank for their only points of the half, converting four penalties.

Pressure

Burgess then completed his hat trick of tries either side of half time, however Preston responded with a good period of pressure from which Andrew Dockray flew over the line from close range which took the score to 19-27.

What do you think, should Preston have won the match?

Leave your comments on this article below.

But Preston could not break down the firm Loughborough defence which stood firm for the final quarter of the game.