In the grand final rematch, the Rangers never held a lead but their never say die attitude saw them fight for victory until the final whistle.

Wallis Lake opened the scoring in the early stages as they were able to convert on a one-on-one opportunity with Rangers goalkeeper John Clancy.

In the momentum swinging match, the Rangers were able to answer within the next 10-minutes as Chad Applegate scored a screamer.

The striker fired a shot from 25 metres out and it curled past the goalkeeper and into the top corner.

However, the Rangers conceded a free kick deep in their own territory and it proved costly as a Wallis Lake player headed the ball passed Clancy from the resulting cross to take a 2-1 lead into the break.

Wallis Lake extended their lead inside the first 15-minutes of the second half but it wasn't long until Macleay Valley got one back.

Brent Ryan made a run down the flank and crossed the ball into an unmarked Justin Crockford who reduced the deficit.

The Rangers then conceded another free kick in a dangerous position and it again proved costly. In an almost carbon copy to Wallis' second goal, they found an unmarked player inside the six-yard box who headed the ball into the back of the net.

As time was running out, the Rangers pushed forward and Applegate reduced the deficit to 4-3 but Wallis quickly reinstated their two goal advantage as Macleay Valley threw everyone forward and were caught on the break.

With close to the final kick of the game, Rangers' Kurt Riordan made the score 5-4.

Rangers coach Chris Walker was disappointed in some aspects of his side's performance but was proud they played until the final whistle.

"It was a strange game. Even though we conceded five goals, our best performers were our backs," Walker said.

"They shut down a lot of their attacks. We were off the pace a bit in the middle and it allowed their midfielders to create.

"It's a great sign that we never gave up though. We were behind the whole game but continued to push even after we conceded."

An injury inside the opening 30-minutes to Sean Brucesmith opened the door for Mitch Korn to make his first grade debut.

In his third game for the weekend, the junior managed to impress Walker.

"Mitch had a very solid game. He was tasked with a tough assignment of defending one of the quickest blokes in the competition but Mitch held his own," Walker said.

Walker also praised the reserve grade side for putting up a brave performance against the competition leaders.

"We had around eight players in total missing from both sides so we had a lot of juniors step up," Walker said.

"We had five 16-year-olds, two 15-year-olds and a couple of Under-18s players in reserve grade and they held their own against the reserve grade competition leaders."

The Rangers' reserve grade side suffered a 2-0 loss.

The Rangers take on rivals Kempsey Saints this Saturday.

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