HOST club New Earswick were pipped into second place in the Yorkshire Over-55s Challenge Trophy - having had one hand on the cup.

The competition was a round-robin affair featuring the top three teams from the Yorkshire Over-55s League first division in York Vikings, Featherstone Jets and Hornsea, plus second division champions New Earswick Falcons.

And Featherstone took the trophy - thanks to a whitewash of the Falcons in the deciding contest.

There were 14 points available in each match - two for a rink win and six for the overall aggregate victory.

New Earswick had begun well, winning all four rinks against both York and Hornsea and taking the aggregates 52-30 and 51-28 respectively for maximum points each time.

Featherstone, meanwhile, lost to Hornsea in their first game, picking up only one rink win and one draw for only three points, but they beat York 52-34 on aggregate and collected 12 points to maintain faint hopes of lifting the trophy going into their last match against Earswick.

New Earswick still only needed one point to make sure of the title, but the Jets won all four rinks in a 43-28 aggregate victory to bag the maximum 14 and take the trophy, finishing one point ahead of the home team.

New Earswick's Paul Murray, Eric Cookson, Ralph Tiplady and Paul Dawson were always behind and lost their rink 8-6, while Graham Lockwood, Rod Walker, Mick Stannard and Barry Johnson only picked up two singles in the first eight ends en route to a 14-5 defeat.

Bob Elliot, Gordon Fratson, Dave Elcock and T Abbot were only 6-5 down with two ends to play but lost 8-6.

In the final game, Dave Imeson, Dave Sykes, Mick Head and Bill Waldie were level at 11-11 going into the last end. Drawing the winner or killing the end would still have given Earswick the title but they dropped a two to lose 13-11.

York, meanwhile, beat Hornsea 54-36, with each side winning two rinks each, but still finished bottom.

Philip Taylor of sponsors Co-Operative Funeralcare presented the Brian Fearnley Trophy to Tony Horobin the Jets captain, and the Independent Shield for the runners-up to Falcons captain Pat Inwood.