POCKET rocket Ben Johnson is destined for the rugby league big time judging by his exploits with York Acorn this season.

The eight-year-old, pictured above, has equalled the sport's record for most tries in a season in all age groups, scoring 121 times for Acorn Under-8s.

And little Ben will be more than happy if he goes on to achieve the same success as one of the previous holders of the record - former Great Britain star Joe Lydon.

Amazingly, as well as scoring an average of four tries a match, the Poppleton Road School pupil also regularly tops the tackle count, averaging 40 a game.

Sports mad Ben also excels at football and boxing but rugby league is his first love - he first went down to play with Acorn when he was just four-years-old.

He equalled the try record in a tournament at New Earswick at the weekend when he touched down eight times to help Acorn win the under-8s section.

However, he could have gone one better. In the final - his last match of the season - Ben appeared to have scored the try which would have made the record his own, only for it to be disallowed by the referee.