FELSTED sunk to a late defeat against Yarm in the u18 final of the Daily Mail Vase at Twickenham- meaning neither of Felsted School’s teams left the finals day with a trophy.

The first XV from Felsted looked on course to win the school’s first maiden Daily Mail Vase title but a late converted try from Yarm cruelly subjected them to a 17-15 defeat.

Charlie Kingham and Joshua Hunter-Jordan gave Felsted a ten point lead before a spirited fight back from Yarm subjected them to a narrow defeat.

Felsted Director of Sport Charlie Knightley said: “It was a game of inches I think and it’s fair to say it could have gone either way but in the end it didn’t go ours.

“It’s been a long season and the boys have achieved a lot to get here. We didn’t take all our chances and lost possession a lot towards the end.

“For some of them it’s their last game, we said leave it all on the pitch and I’m happy that that’s what they did. Win or lose, they left everything on the pitch.”

Number 8 Kingham opened Felsted’s account by bundling through a congested Yarm defence at the near corner flag after a piercing run from Simon Eastham fell five metres short of the try line.

Hunter-Jordan doubled Felsted’s lead soon after with a simple finish after expertly being picked out by a lofted pass from Kingham.

Yarm looked like they were being dominated by Felsted but a powerful run from England schoolboy international Zach Kibirige gained the Teesside school precious territory.

Yarm’s forwards rucked well and the ball once again found Kibirige, who touched down to halve the deficit before half-time.

William Malins dribbled the ball 22 metres before going down with pressure at the far corner flag to reinstate Felsted’s lead but the momentum seemed to be starting to swing in Yarm’s favour- despite the score.

Yarm began to work the phases deep in Felsted’s 22 and a momentary lapse in concentration from their defence allowed fly half Will Guthrie to neatly side step his way around two tacklers before having the presence of mind to touch down between the posts.

Guthrie, knowing a routine conversion could be enough to win the game, held his nerve to smash the ball through the posts.

Charlie Wood touched down late for Felsted after latching onto a long range kick but he was forced into touch by the Yarm defence just before he touched down at the corner flag.

Knightley added: “It’s been a disappointing day, but a very proud one as well. Being the director of sport at the school with not many boys so to get here is good and its still been a great day.”