TWICKENHAM-bound York Under-10s and Under-12s got themselves in the winning mood with victory at their own junior festival, writes Tony Curtis.

The two sides, who head to the home of English rugby at the end of next month for the semi-final and final stages of the Prudential Cup, gave their local rivals a taste of what can be expected on the big day. The U10s picked up their third consecutive title at the festival with a dominant display which saw them score 15 tries and concede just one.

In the pool games, York beat Morpeth 30-0 followed by a 15-0 win against a strong Fylde team. Vale of Lune were York's next victims in the semi-finals, with the Clifton Park boys triumphing 5-0 to set up a re-match with Fylde.

And again the Lancastrians found York too hot to handle as they raced to a 25-5 victory.

Try-scorers for York were player-of-the-tournament Toby Spark (4), Charlie Nicholson (4), James Tyas (2) and Thomas Sleeman, Thomas Brown, Ben Hepworth and Max Knighton.

York U12s denied Malton and Norton their fourth title of the season to add to the East Yorkshire trophy, Harrogate Challenge and Yorkshire Cup.

The final renewed a great rivalry between the two sides but proved a game too far as Malton were starved of possession and a lengthy tackling stint eventually told on for York to win 14-0.

York opened their account through Harrison in the first half, while William Park finally scored after the hosts had been held up over the line on four occasion.

Malton had started the competition with a comfortable win over Harrogate by 21-7, courtesy of tries from Tim Wise, Martin Blake and Chris Pearce, who also added three goals.

Darlington were the second opponents and in excellent evenly contested match. Two tries from Mark Perkins both converted by Peace saw Malton through by 14-7.

Vale of Lure were then despatched, again by 14-7 in a tough game. Peace with two goals and one try and Perkins with a five-pointer settled it.

The semi-final against Fylde featured top defence from both side with an inspired performance from Webb, Malton's player of the tournament. A try from Perkins, goaled by Peace, settled the tie.

York reached the final without conceding a point. Maud, Batchelor and Hawking all crossed for Lee to convert in a 21-0 win against Sandal.

Fylde were brushed aside 26-0, with Frank (2), Hawking and Simpson touching down and Lee slotting over three conversions, while Hawking was on the scoresheet again with Watson as Morpeth were beaten 12-0. Lee added one conversion.

The semi-final saw Lancastrians Vale of Lune put to the sword as Milligan and Hanley scored and Lee (2) converted to seal a 14-0 victory.

Malton and Norton U11s found life hard in their section of the competition.

A 10-5 defeat against Darlington was followed by a 5-0 defeat by Otley. Against Otley the pattern was similar, with just one try the difference.

Things improved against Vale of Lune, but again Malton suffered a 10-5 reverse.

The fourth place play-off against Harrogate, was a good note to finish on. After, yet again, going behind by two tries, they found their game and with tries from Chris Marton, Costa and George Barker to claim victory.

Malton and Norton U10s came up against strong squads from Darlington, Vale of Lune and Otley.

Eventual group winners Darlington ran in four tries without reply from Malton.

Vale of Lune were a well-organised team, scoring five tries. Thanks to Malton's resilience, they gained a consolation from Kearon Johnson.

Malton carried this form through to their final match in a close contest against Otley. The front row of Johnson, Sam Harrison and Richard Brown fought hard as Josh Evans ran in two tries in reply to Otley's four.

Updated: 11:53 Friday, April 12, 2002