YORK Under-11 Schools' footballers came within a whisker of reaching the English Schools' FA National seven-a-side finals.

They were edged out by Chester-le-Street in the Northern Area Finals after opening up with victories over West Tyne and Rother Valley.

Jacob Gore netted twice in the 2-0 defeat of West Tyne, while Chris Bilton scored the only goal to defeat Rother Valley.

York then had to wait an hour for their next game which they lost 1-0 to the Wirral.

York gained the point they needed with a 0-0 draw against Halton to go through to the semi-final where they went down 1-0 to Chester-le-Street despite having the majority of play.

Connor Qualter and Will Pepper shone in York's defence throughout the tournament, while James Edmond produced a string of composed performances in goal.

York's U11s are in 11-a-side action on Saturday when they travel to Wakefield for a Yorkshire League encounter.

U11s: S Byram, A Stelmach, W Pepper, James Edmond, S Leach, A Thornton, M Dale, C Bilton, D Fisher, W Bailey, J Maud, T Richardson, C Qualter, J Gore, N Kilby. Meet McDonalds (A64) 9am.

Updated: 09:44 Wednesday, March 24, 2004