YORK won the Yorkshire Double Rinks Indoor Bowls Championship for the first time since 1992 by beating close rivals Featherstone 31-21 in the final at New Earswick.

David Stroughair's York rink beat Tony Horobin's 16-6 after winning seven of the first eight ends to lead 16-1.

Iain Boyle's rink scored a three on the last end to earn a well deserved 15-15 draw.

Earlier, in the group matches York won all their rinks, defeating hosts New Earswick, Redcar and Ryedale.

Boyle's team faced Paul Dawson's New Earswick four and with the match evenly poised at 9-9 Boyle scored a six on the tenth end to help him to a 16-10 victory.

Stroughair won 16-8 against Bob Edwards' team mainly thanks to a good opening which saw them leading 10-2 after six ends.

Against Ryedale both Stroughair and Boyle weren't troubled winning 22-6 and 12-7 respectively, then in their last game against Redcar they rammed home their superiority with Stroughair sweeping home 20-5 and Boyle 28-12.

Featherstone reached the final on a shots difference of one as they won their last group game 24-17 against South Leeds, while group leaders North Cave lost 35-20 to Scarborough.

Yorkshire League division one champions York completed their fixtures in style when they beat second-placed North Cave 88-74 on aggregate, picking up 14 points.

The damage was done in the home leg, where both rinks led from start to finish with Frank Turner's team getting off to a good start leading 10-1 after seven ends in their 23-13 victory.

Graham Brooke's four led 8-0 after only three ends in their 25-17 win which was easier than the score line showed after they dropped a seven on the last end.

Peter Littlewood, playing at North Cave for the first time in five years, had a good 21-17 win after coming from 13-6 down.

In the other away rink Fred Clayden's team scored a seven on the 16th end but it wasn't enough as they went down 27-19.

York's Paul Mooring, Charlie Bateman and Phil Parsons won the Yorkshire Triples Knockout Trophy by beating Hull 17-12.

The game was tied at 5-5 after five ends before the York side won seven of the next eight ends to lead 16-8, which proved enough to win the competition for the second time in three years.

WEST Bank Park Bowling Association are looking for some more couples to join them on their summer tour of the Isle of Wight.

The trip takes place from August 28 to September 3, and bowlers don't necessarily need to be members of the Association. The cost is £265 per person and anyone interested in joining in should contact either Derek Marshall on 01937 833670 or Alan Storey on 01904 794869.

Updated: 08:35 Thursday, March 10, 2005