HEADLANDS School were crowned the first ever girls tag rugby festival winners in front of a packed Huntington Stadium on Sunday.

The top five teams from the two qualifying days battled it out in a round robin final as a curtain raiser to the York City Knights v Keighley Cougars clash.

And it was Headlands who came out on top after winning three and drawing one in an unbeaten day of games.

York City Knights development officer Jason Ramshaw said: "It was superb. The standard of play was excellent throughout the heats and pulling the five qualifiers into the final only increased that.

"Some of the coaching staff from Keighley were watching the games as they were warming up and they commented on the footwork, speed and agility of the girls."

The next step in the tag rugby development scheme are the gifted and talented camps running next week. Each school that has taken part in the festivals has nominated two boys and two girls for extra coaching.

More than 100 boys will take part in the first on Wednesday and up to 60 girls on the Thursday.

Tag rugby festival results: Westfield 4, Riccall 12; Headlands 0, Copmanthorpe 0; Huntington 0, Westfield 0; Riccall 0, Headlands 4; Copmanthorpe 4, Huntington 8; Westfield 0, Headlands 4; Riccall 4, Copmanthorpe 4; Headlands 4, Huntington 0; Westfield 4, Copmanthorpe 8; Riccall 12, Huntington 12.

Updated: 10:32 Wednesday, July 06, 2005