LUCTONIANS will be hoping the roar of the Mortimer Park crowd will spur them on to victory this weekend when they face Preston Grasshoppers in a vital National League 2 North encounter.

The Kingsland side are three points adrift at the bottom of the division, despite claiming a creditable 15-15 draw at high-fliers Caldy last Saturday.

Preston are just one point above the drop zone and Lucs will be searching for a win that will take them into another crucial game next weekend at Broadstreet, who are second from bottom. A home game against South Leicester, who are 10th, then follows before Lucs make the mammoth journey to face Tynedale, who themselves currently lie in 13th place.

Against Caldy, Lucs fell behind after six minutes when hooker Neil Dowridge touched down following a driving maul and Jack Lavin converted.

But Luctonians got back into the game and went into the half-time break 9-7 ahead thanks to three Louis Silver penalties.

Another driving maul again saw Dowridge touch down after the breal to put Caldy back into control before Sam Knott was sent off for Luctonians for foul play.

However, Lucs refused to give in and some desperate defence kept Caldy at bay.

Silver kicked over two more penalties to give his side an unlikely lead before Ben Elliott secured a draw for Caldy with a late drop goal.