Hoppers responded after five minutes, Josh Ree drove the team forward before the ball travelled to Sammy Russell’s hands, who bulldozed his way over from the 22.

And after 10 minutes, the hosts had the lead, when the ball went wide to Ree, who sprinted and rolled his way over.

Nearly half an hour on the clock, and Hoppers had a third, Harry Holden touching down off the rolling maul.

Otley were awarded a penalty try with five minutes left in the first half. Just as they were about to go over, Sam Freeman made a high tackle, leading to the referee to award seven points and a yellow card, with just one point separating the sides.

It took two minutes into the second for 40 for Otley to take the lead, when Joe Rowntree slotted his penalty.

And a minute later they had a try. They intercepted a pass and kicked the ball up the pitch. Crossland slipped through again, before passing to Chris Bell who powered his way over for a nine-point lead.

With 30 minutes left, both sides were shown cards. Danny Maher was shown a yellow, but Ademakin was shown a red for his conduct in the aftermath.

And when Hoppers returned to 15, they made their extra man count. They gave the ball to Spence, who spotted the space on the wing, and he sprinted his way over on his 150th appearance for a bonus point.

Josh Ree got what would prove to be the winner, taking the ball out wide before he snuck his way into the corner. Greg Smith produced an excellent kick for a three-point lead.

Rowntree had two chances to level in the 77th and 79th minute from over 40 metres out but both drifted wide for late heartbreak.

Hoppers Head Coach Dan Orwin never doubted his side, even when they were down.

“On the touchline, even when we were nine down, we were always confident we would score,” said Orwin.

“We knew the players we had out there were good enough to win.

“We haven’t beaten them in two and half years, so it’s nice to get that monkey off our back.”