YORK’S Zoe Eagles put the ace into the Acle Trophy as she captained England to the Home Internationals under-25s’ bowls crown.

It was a fitting flourish for Eagles’ debut as England leader after eight years’ involvement with the U15s set-up.

England beat Wales and Scotland to win the Acle Trophy to continue an unparalleled run of success in which the red rose ranks have won the title every year bar one since the event was established in 1987.

And as an added bonus, one Eagles’ successful team-mates was her York Indoor Bowls Club colleague Hayley Macdonald.

Said a delighted Eagles: “Many of the individual rinks had some fantastic winning results.

“Sophie Tolchard came up against the Scottish skip in the first game, accompanied by Victoria Bilson leading, Hayley at two and Laura Holden at three.

“The girls really hit the ground running picking up a maximum eight shots on the first end which led them to a convincing win of 25-12.”

After two days of doughty competition, England were crowned the winners with ten points, plus 11 shots, ahead of Scotland with (7 points, plus 4 shots) and Wales in third (7, minus 15 shots).

Added Eagles: “Winning the U25 series was the icing on the cake after being appointed team captain this year. There was a great team spirit which is a credit to the girls as for many of them this was their first year.

“During my eight years in the team this will certainly be one of the most memorable.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time as captain and it was good to see the new girls settle in as they will be the ones taking the England team forward with many more winning titles, I’m sure.”