Victoria Rangers 8 Boothtown Terriers 6

A LATE penalty from ace marksman Aiden Scully saw Victoria Rangers post the double over visitors Boothtown Terriers in a bone-haking Pennine League Division One encounter at Eccleshill Sports Club.

The opening exchanges were scrappy to say the least, with both sides apparently looking far from interested in what was an end-of-season clash.

The Halifax visitors took a fortunate lead when scrum half Liam Walsh aimed a speculative kick over the defence and followed up to collect the rebound off home wingman Ryan Dixon to scoot to the posts, leaving loose forward Ben Walsh the easy task of adding the extras.

The Vics were stung into action, with loose forward Jordon Walker revelling in his new role as last man down in a home pack that started to show more purpose.

He broke clear from the scrum on two occasions to race 40 yards, only to find a lack of support and wingman Rob Stones was held just short in the corner. The hosts looked to have made the chalk when hooker Hayden Sugden dived over from acting half bang in front but the referee declared his attempt inches short and blew the half-time whistle.

The second stanza started with renewed home vigour when Hayden’s 'try-scoring' pass to prop Scott Butler was declared forward before Rangers breathed a sigh of relief when a penalty attempt from Ben Walsh sailed well wide.

Both sides were intent on showing muscle as opposed to skill as the dubious tackles flew in thick and fast but some constructive rugby returned to the game when second row forward Luke Harps was denied by being bundled into touch after a determined run. The deadlock was broken on the hour when Dixon handed off his opposite wingman Arron Varley to crash over at the corner flag and Scully was dead centre with his touchline conversion to level the scores 6-6.

Boothtown lost the plot from then on, showing that they were more intent on settling old scores than winning the game and it came as no surprise when Scully gleefully slotted over a penalty following knees in the tackle.

A royal punch-up saw Dixon and Terriers forward substitute Reece Drahosz receive their marching orders and the game ended on another sour note when both sides indulged in a further fracas that thankfully ended as all pals together when the referee called an end to the proceedings.