YORK RI Rugby Union Club's youth section started pre-season with a bang by winning the Swing Low Sweet Charity Tag Tournament at Harrogate.

Organised by former Harrogate coach Ralph Zoing, the tournament, in aid of Reach & Ataxia UK, saw teams paired with a guest player.

Jon Callard, Iain Balshaw and Duncan Hodge were from the union code, with James Lowes and Abi Ekoku representing Rugby League.

RI's guest was Lowes, the ex-Great Britain and Bradford Northern hooker, who helped them to cruise through their opening two games, top the group and book a semi-final place against Macallam.

The semi was a closely fought affair and was decided in the dying minutes by a Robin Grice try for 26-24 victory to RI.

The final against Marshall Zoing, a team made up of Harrogate players past and present, looked to be a step too far for RI as tries by Tapster and Zoing saw them go 14 points down.

But just on the break they reduced the arrears when Danny Hickey went the length of the field to score.

A try by Tom Heslop tied the scores and took the final into extra time, where an interception by Lowes sealed victory.

Updated: 09:20 Saturday, July 17, 2004