JULIAN TAYLOR fell agonisingly short in his bid to add the Lee Westwood Trophy to his burgeoning trophy cabinet.

The York Golf Club ace, defending his Yorkshire Amateur Championship crown at Fulford GC this week, was one stroke shy of Sam Haywood following a thrilling climax at Rotherham Golf Club.

Taylor produced a magnificent five-under-par 65 in the final round - a superb effort which left him at two-under-par for the championship, which is one of the North's premier amateur events.

It was best score of the week in the 72-hole tournament and Taylor then had to wait in the clubhouse to see how his rivals would fare on the closing holes.

Bogeys on the 15th and 17th would ultimately prove costly, as Haywood sank a monster birdie putt on the penultimate hole on his way to the title.

Taylor had started the final round seven shots behind Haywood but birdied four of the first five holes as he reached the turn at four under.

He picked up further shots at ten and 11 before his dropped shots at the end of the round bookended another birdie.

For Taylor it was another close shave. He lost the world ranking event in a play-off to Darren Timms in 2012 despite a course record-equalling 62.

Pike Hills' Martin Brown finished tied fourth in the event with a total of 280.