YORK'S Michelle Mooring and Oxford's Pamela Rae were inched out by the eventual champions in the Women's British Isles Bowls Under 25s Pairs semi-finals at Royal Leamington Spa.

Mooring, from the Bert Keech Club, and Rae had made a superb start against Scotland's Kathryn Wood and Anne Watson, storming 6-2 ahead over the first five ends.

But the Scots hauled themselves back and scores on seven of the next nine ends took them 11-9 in front.

A battling Mooring and Rae clawed back two doubles to regain the lead at 13-11, but the Scots were soon back in business with five shots in two ends, taking a 16-13 advantage on to the run-in.

Rae and Mooring summoned up a driving finish, grabbing two singles in their final flurry but the Scottish pair hung on to win 17-15, and they later took the title with another knife-edge victory, 19-18 over Hannah Smith and Bethan Horgan, of Wales, in the final.

Meanwhile, Mooring was also involved in the International Championship decider against title holders Scotland.

The York youngster was England's only successful skip, after charging 9-1 ahead against Anne Watson. Although the Scot battled back to draw level at 14-14, Mooring replied with two doubles to carry an 18-14 lead into the final end and beat off a late tartan challenge to win 18-15.

There was little joy for England on the other three rinks. Bedford-shire's Karen Thompson crashed 29-16 to Julia Henderson, Buck-inghamshire's Julie Skelly lost 19-11 to Lindsey McPhillip, and Skelly's clubmate, Katrina Jones, fell 21-16 to Lauren Baillie, while across the green Scotland beat England 84-61 to retain their title.

Earlier, Mooring had summoned up a stunning finish to help England snatch a title life-line.

Mooring was one of the four England skips and she faced a fight on her hands when her opponent Emma Moorhouse scored a five at the tenth end in the clash with Wales to power ahead 12-7.

Mooring hit back with seven shots over the next four successive ends, edging ahead 14-12 and two ends later she swooped with a superb six to stretch her lead to 20-13.

There was a shock for Mooring as Moorhouse rallied with a single, a four and a single, but Mooring produced a sizzling finish, rolling home a double and single to win 23-19. Meanwhile, the other three England skips conjured up powerful finishes, Jones scoring a four, Skelly adding a single and Thompson pitching in with a single.

These last-ditch efforts enabled England to see off Wales 78-72 overall.

England, boosted by that success went on to slam Ireland 96-65, with Mooring scoring the biggest win of the afternoon, demolishing Clare Bradley 28-12 to set up the showdown with Scotland.

Updated: 11:51 Wednesday, August 28, 2002