Depleted Hoppers produce a dramatic finish to earn victory

In a remarkable last 10 minutes, 13-man Preston Grasshoppers battled to a 32-20 bonus-point victory when all looked lost against a redoubtable Rossendale, writes PAUL OUTHWAITE.

- by Sports Reporter

Trailing 20-18 at the three-quarter point, Hoppers lost Hugo Castle and Jacob Browne to red cards following a mass brawl, when they were already a man down due to Jonny Wild's sin-binning five minutes earlier.

But -as head coach Dan Orwin said -the sending-offs "galvanised them and they dug deep" for an epic victory.

He felt his side were ill-served by Castle's red card, as he retaliated to a punch that started the set-to, with no visiting player punished, before Browne followed for "abusing an official" in his protests.