Burnley 3rds 38 Preston Grasshoppers 6ths 20

Burnley Thirds completed the double over Preston Grasshoppers thanks to a hat-trick of tries from Ryan Small on his debut.

The home side started the game at a terrific pace and Preston could not handle the bigger Burnley pack and Eddie Blake crashed over for the opening try of the game after five minutes.

Small was soon to make his big impression on the game and the inside centre ran in two tries against a smaller defence who couldn’t handle his speed and agility.

Burnley were dominant in all areas of play and quickly stopped any Preston attacks with some solid defence from Mark Bertenshaw and Steve Harrison - limiting them to two penalties and a solo try from their speedy full back.

Matt Fisher grabbed his customary try just before the break as Burnley dominated the half.

Burnley made wholesale changes at the break as they tried to give everyone a run-out. This disrupted play slightly and Preston scored their second try of the match.

But Burnley rallied and Blake had a couple of chances ruled out by the referee but Small made it a debut to remember with a third try.

The home side wrapped up victory with a fine team move with Adam Spencer crossing for a sixth try.