Easingwold and Fulford schools shared the honours at the inaugural York and District Schools' 10s rugby union tournament at Clifton Park.

More than 200 young rugby players got stuck into the action to compete for one of the two shields.

Easingwold triumphed in the Year 7 category after a hotly contested final against All Saints that saw them separated by a single try ran in with just two minutes left on the clock.

Easingwold had reached the final after topping the round-robin stage with a 100 per cent record, beating Tadcaster Grammar, Manor, All Saints and Joseph Rowntree on the way.

All Saints found themselves in the final after a nail-biting final group match against Joseph Rowntree. Jo Ro only needed a draw to be sure of a final berth but All Saints stole in with a neat kick over the Jo Ro line which was chased down for the score and the final place.

In the Year 8 section, eight teams from seven schools pitted their wits in two pools of four with the top two in each reaching the semi-finals.

Easingwold cruised into the final after beating Manor One where they faced eventual winners Fulford, who had comfortably beaten Jo Ro in their semi.

Other teams playing in the Year 8 group were Tadcaster Grammar, Millthorpe, All Saints and a second Manor side.

The two winning schools will keep the shields until the next tournament, and every finalist also received a medal.

York RUFC schools' co-ordinator Phil Bambridge said he was delighted with the success of the event and cannot wait until next year.

"It went superbly," he said. "It was a lovely evening, all the teams behaved themselves admirably and everyone said how well it went.

"There were more than 200 lads down there and everybody got stuck in and a very good level of rugby was played.

"It's going to be an annual event from now on and next year we will probably bring in an extra age group, too."

Updated: 10:49 Wednesday, April 07, 2004