OXFORDSHIRE'S hopes of a dream appearance at Twickenham were ended when they lost 34-11 to Yorkshire in the semi-final of the National Under 20 Championship at Bingley on Sunday.

After a magnificent run, Oxon were unlucky to be away to Yorkshire, who have played in the final each of the last nine years.

However, the visitors took the lead after seven minutes, when skipper Justin Pakes landed a tricky penalty.

Yorkshire soon drew level through scrum half Dan Storey, who then poached the ball from an Oxon scrum, and his long pass gave winger Sam Booth a try which was converted.

This was followed by two tries from rolling mauls by flankers James Smith and Damien Dangster to give Yorkshire a 23-3 interval lead.

Yorkshire managed to score first after the break, No 8 James Waterhouse, picking up from the scrum.

Oxfordshire had a better second half and mounted effective attacks.

A scrum some 15 yards from the Yorks line gave Pakes the opportunity to break blind and go over in the corner. He then kicked a penalty to make the score respectable.

After making numerous changes, Oxon mounted some promising attacks, but the last score went to Yorkshire with a third try from a rolling maul by lock Liam O'Neill.