A PATCHY performance sent Hoppers to their third league defeat in four outings all of which have been by a margin of four points or less.

At Dudley they got away to a reasonable start, Paul Bailey giving them a third minute lead with a penalty.

The home side hit back with a converted try but Hoppers had a good spell which produced two scores. Gary Monaghan, in his first game of the season, scored the first and Oliver Viney the second. One conversion by Bailey gave them a 15-7 lead. Then, disaster struck.

Poor lineout play and a careless kick out of defence presented Dudley with two tries one of which was converted to give them a half time lead of 19-15. A penalty after the break extend this advantage before Hoppers roused themselves.

Viney scored his second try which was too far out for the conversion and, although Hoppers continued to press, they were unable to compensate for the earlier problems.

Hoppers entertain Macclesfield on Saturday with the kick-off at an earlier time of 2.15pm.

Final score: Dudley Kingswinford 22 Preston Grasshoppers 20