YORK and district under-15s’ gallant attempt to follow in the footsteps of their U13s and U11s counterparts and make the final of the Yorkshire Junior Cricket Festival was halted by Doncaster in the semi-final at Stamford Bridge.

It was a good run for the U15s representative side, who had qualified after two group victories, and to lose to the eventual competition winners was some consolation.

The coaching team hailed a “great team spirit” and praised the side for their “tremendous effort”.

In the last-four tie against Doncaster, York won the toss and elected to bat but progress was slow and the first wicket fell at 18 in the sixth over.

Tom Loten made 23, but York’s middle order fell away as four wickets were lost for 21 runs. A carefully-compiled 41 not out by Olly Fryer took York’s score to 149-9 – about 30 runs short of a competitive total.

Doncaster made a solid start to their reply and put on 53 for the first wicket before Matthew Watson claimed two wickets in one over. A partnership of 44 saw Doncaster seize control of the game and the winning runs came in the 41st over.

York’s first group stage match against Airedale & Wharfedale had been washed out, but they went on to beat Wetherby and Huddersfield.

Batting first on winning the toss against Wetherby, they made 137 thanks to 38 by Alex Burton and 23 by Alex Wilson.

Wetherby’s reply stuttered to 54-8 as Danny Cass, with 4-16, did the main damage. The return of Dominic Smith ended the game as he mopped up the tail to finish with figures of 3-15.

The following day York won the toss and elected to bat at home to Huddersfield.

The loss of an early wicket did not cause any problems as Loten scored a fine 84, ably supported by Jack Spofforth, with 22, and Burton, who finished on 43 not out, as York posted 203-7.

Excellent catching and fielding dented the hopes of Huddersfield and one wicket each for Jay Snowden, Cass, Fryer and off-spinner Watson meant they fell 30 runs shy.