TOM Hildreth has become the first player to captain the England rock-it-ball team at youth and senior level.

Easingwold Raptor player Hildreth was named as skipper for the international friendly series against Scotland and led his country to a 3-0 win to gain revenge for the 2007 World Cup final defeat that he played in.

In 2008, Hildreth was also captain of the World Youth Cup winning team that overcame Hungary 5-0.

England’s senior squad, which includes players from the Midlands and Bedfordshire, are now looking forward to next year’s World Cup finals.

Hildreth’s Raptors team-mate Carl Alsop was the only other surviving member from the 2007 side with superior teamwork, communication, tactics, blocking and shooting proving too much for the Scots this time.

England won all three fixtures 233-116, 254-118 and 243-130.

The second match also saw a new world record set for the highest score in a game.

Meanwhile, Easi-Rockit HellFighters enjoyed a comfortable 130-63 victory over newcomers Easingwold ATC Falcons in the English National Rock-It-Ball League Yorkshire and Humber Region.

The HellFighers were worthy winners despite picking an unusually high number of penalty points.

Falcons also had their wings clipped by York Pumas, who raced into a strong half-time advantage after winning the first two quarters by 22 and 21 points.

But the second half saw Falcons show spirit before eventually going down 110-55 and they later lost 92-34 to Easingwold ATC Typhoons.

The top two fought out a tough and close contest before Raptors overcame York Cougars 113-87.

However, HellFighters, took over at the top of the league when they edged home 150-134 against Cougars despite injuries suffered by Robbie James and Jonathon Cooper.