They took two well deserved bonus points back with them, but were left questioning what could’ve been come.

Leeds Tykes were many people’s overwhelming favourites coming into the match, having not lost at home in over a year, but Hoppers were coming off an impressive win against Hull.

And Hoppers had made the better start, scoring after just seven minutes through a trademark driving maul, with Harry Holden dotting the ball down.

Tykes replied 15 minutes in, when Oliver Williams cut straight through the defence to level the game up.

Tom Guest crashed over in response after an excellent Ewan Naylor run brought Hoppers right up to the line.

Both sides were on 14 points apiece after 25 minutes, when Matt Burke was sent through after two excellent breaks from his teammates.

The hosts had the lead for the first time, when winger Eliah Chitiyo found himself with just enough space on the wing to run through and score.

Hoppers were challenging the line on the approach to half time, and Jacob Brady was shown a yellow after tackling a player off the ball.

The visitors made the most of the man advantage, Holden grabbing his twelfth try of the season from the rolling maul, but a missed conversion meant they went into half time two points behind.

And they came out flying in the second half, Jacob Browne picking up a loose ball, before sprinting to the line to grab the try scoring bonus point.

Hoppers proceeded to have better chances, but a lost ball in the back field saw them punished by Chitiyo who scored after pouncing on it.

Leeds punished Preston further when Harry Whitfield produced a barnstorming run, with a one-two pass seeing him score.

Chances were coming close for Hoppers, but they were just missing that final moment.

With five minutes to go, Preston had a penalty, and they took the three points to put them within six points, which would guarantee another bonus point.

But they still kept pushing for that final try which would’ve been well deserved, but they lost two lineouts and saw their attempts at an upset just fall short.

It was two points to be proud of for Hoppers, but a hint of disappointment at coming so close.

Match report by Tom Kelly