LEADING 26-3 with 10 minutes left, Tynedale seemed set for a comfortable win on Saturday.

But visitors Preston Grasshoppers staged a grandstand finish to run in three late tries, and leave Tynedale hanging on desperately at the final whistle.

Tynedale welcomed back back key players Joe Mills, Matty Outson, Will Miller and Ash Smith after injury lay-offs, which cushioned the blow of losing talented back Rob Parker for the season with a serious hand injury sustained in the defeat at Caldy.

Sadly, Mills’s comeback lasted only 20 minutes, before he had to limp off, and by the end, Miller was playing in the back row as more injuries took their toll.

The Grasshoppers applied the early pressure, without seriously threatening the Tynedale line, but the nearest they came to scoring was with a penalty from fly half Will Hunt which dipped under the bar.

Confusingly, both sides fielded players named Jack Harrison, both of whom had parts to play in the opening score.

Preston’s Jack was sin-binned for tackling Matty Outson too soon from a tap penalty, and from the resultant line-out Tynedale’s Jack touched down with 16 minutes gone.

A magnificent conversion from the touchline by fly half Smith gave Tynedale a 7-0 lead.

Tynedale almost increased their lead on 24 minutes, when slick handling saw winger Olie Walker streaking up the touchline, but he put a foot in touch.

Fans did not have long to wait though, for a minute later, Smith put in a deft grubber kick, and there was Walker darting through to score the second try.

Smith again converted from the touchline to put Tynedale firmly in the driving seat.

The Hoppers finally opened their account on the half hour when Hunt slotted a simple penalty, which heralded a period of strong Preston pressure, but Tynedale defended well, and then snaffled up a stray pass, to send Walker roaring half the length of the fieldg for his second try.

The kick failed, but Tynedale turned round with a comfortable 19-3 lead.

It all seemed over bar the shouting when another bout of Preston pressure saw Tynedale steal the ball again 18 minutes into the second half, and bustling winger Henry Hadfield crossed for the bonus point try, converted by Smith to make it 26-3.

There were few alarms in the Tynedale camp when Preston’s Jack Harrison stretched over for a try in the 70th minute, taking a hurried drop goal conversion rather than waiting for the kicking tee to arrive.

However, there was consternation as Tynedale’s game fell apart in a blizzard of injuries and rolling substitutions, exacerbated by a yellow card for the influential number eight Scott Powell with five minutes left.

Preston used their extra man to good effect, with replacement hooker Matt Beaty crossing for a try, and lock Ally Murray following suit soon after, both converted by Harrison to reduce the gap to just four points.

Tynedale were in total disarray, but somehow hung on for only their second maximum point haul of the season.

Tyne face one of their shortest away trips of the season on Saturday when they visit Otley.

The North Yorkshire outfit are unbeaten at home but without a win on the road so far

They have beaten Chester (15-10), Preston Grasshoppers (20-18) and Wharfedale (39-27) at home but lost all five away matches, including a 27-15 defeat at struggling Hinckley last Saturday.