York and District Indoor Bowls Club have completed the Yorkshire IBA League and Cup double.

They clinched the inaugural County Challenge Cup after defeating Huddersfield, the team they had beaten to the league title, 85-64 in the final at New Earswick.

Iain Boyle, Frank Turner, Ted Boyle and the youngest player on show, 12-year-old Josh Cahill were 6-1 down after six ends then won nine consecutive ends on their way to a 24-10 victory.

Paul Mooring, John Emmerson, Phil Parsons and Graham Instone were never threatened in the game leading from start to finish as they won 20-13.

Huddersfield picked up a three followed by a two on the 19th and 20th ends to slightly distort the York team's superiority.

It was a similar case as Michael Bruce, Graham Brooke, Dudley Williams and John Walker scored a four on their first end and kept the lead throughout. Huddersfield scored ten shots over the last six ends, but Bruce's team held out 22-21.

David Stroughair, Mal Harrison, Barry Walker and Philip Scott were leading comfortably 18-12 with four ends to go but then dropped eight shots over the next three ends and could only pick up a single on the last as they lost 20-19.

It was a magnificent achievement by York as they had only just scraped through in the semi-final against division two winners Featherstone.

They won that battle 76-74, mainly thanks to Stroughair's rink, who picked up a magnificent seven on their last end to win 28-13. Mooring's team won 17-16 and Boyle's 19-17.

The one York rink to struggle was Bruce's, who were also last to finish.

Going into the last end trailing 28-12 and two shots down, Bruce bowled the winning shot that proved to be crucial. His opposing skip, with his last wood, missed taking it out by a whisker, which gave York their place in the final against Huddersfield, who had beaten Thornaby 92-78 in their semi-final.

York completed a fantastic weekend as they won the Hebden Trophy for the eighth time in its ten-year existence by beating Hull 89-64 at North Cave.

The crucial time came between the tenth and 15th ends when York secured 29 shots to only 12 against to lead 70-46 on aggregate.

Eric Hodgson, Tony Bryan, Malcolm Thompson and Norman Vause were trailing 5-2 after six ends before they scored a five to put them into the lead. They then dropped a single before scoring 14 shots over the next seven ends to only three against to completely demoralise their opponents as they went on to win easily 24-12.

Fred Clayden, Alwyn Redhead, Gordon Walker and Ken Patterson were 10-9 behind at the half-way stage before scoring nine shots without reply over the next four ends on their way to a 25-15 victory.

Alwyn Johnson, Dave McCowan, Geoff Walker and Kevin Harris led 12-5 after nine before dropping a six followed by a single.

The score was level after 13 ends at 14-14 but then Johnson's team scored four shots on two winning ends to hold the advantage which they never let slip, winning 22-18.

York's only defeat came from Brian Thomas, Dennis Haw, Tom Ellis and Ken Hutson, who were leading 14-13 with five ends to play, but lost by a single shot 19-18.

An international takes place this weekend at York and District IBC between England and Scotland Firemen. Play starts at 2pm on Saturday and noon on Sunday.

Yorkshire Under-18 champions New Earswick are to defend their crown on Sunday when they play Hornsea 'A' in the semi-final - a repeat of last year's final.

In the other semi-final, York take on Scarborough 'A'. Both games take place at Ryedale IBC and start at 10am. The final is scheduled to start at 1pm.

Updated: 09:18 Thursday, April 03, 2003