Victoria Rangers 38, Sharlston Rovers A 36

A SECOND-half penalty from ace Victoria Rangers marksman Josh Hattie proved the deciding factor in a high-scoring Pennine League Division One tit-for-tat clash at Eccleshill Sports Club.

The Vics opened the scoring when centre Damian Smith coasted in unopposed out wide and stand-off Hattie slotted over the extras, before Rovers replied in kind through hooker Phil Hill.

It looked to be plain sailing for the hosts when centre Martin Southwell collected a delayed pass from packman Luke Harps to sprint to the chalk, quickly followed by another sparkling touchdown from full back Jordon Walker, leaving Hattie to ensure full reward in the 18-6 total.

But Sharlston showed their resilience when scrum half Callum Scott burrowed his way to the chalk from the ruck shortly before the half-time whistle.

The Vics were further in the ascendency when Hattie collected a dropped pass from a scrum to gallop over out wide.

And Smith went in for his brace when he collected a clever overhead pass from prop Ash Yarrow for a 30-12 margin that looked to have put the home outfit out of sight.

Yet Rovers had other ideas and posted two rapid converted tries to reduce the margin to just six points.

The defining moment arrived when Sharlston were caught reefing the ball out in the tackle, giving Hattie a golden opportunity to slot over a penalty, which left Rovers two scores behind.

Smith came within inches of claiming his hat-trick when he tried to intercept a loose pass with no-one at home. But it backfired spectacularly as Sharlston loose forward Kev Marson picked up and spun out of a tackle to score.

The game appeared to be done and dusted in Vics' favour when Hattie kicked deep on the last tackle and Sharlston dropped the ball at the feet of wingman Carl McGuigan, who gratefully accepted the gift to race over.

Hattie, who never missed a conversion all afternoon, was again on target from wide out to put clear water between the sides at 38-30.

It looked to be all over bar the shouting with only five minutes to go but the visitors put any premature celebrations on hold with another converted try to ensure a rousing finish that saw Rangers claim victory by a whisker.