OAKHAM School captain Joe Wheeler broke Barnard Castle's hearts last Saturday before receiving the Daily Mail Schools trophy from his dad.

Former England hooker Peter Wheeler handed over the cup at Twickenham after seeing his son score a hat-trick of first half tries in a 30-28 win.

With two of them coming from line-outs, all the flanker's tries came from close range and the first two opened a 10-0 lead.

Although they never led, the brave Barney boys had the gap down to 15-14 at half-time and 25-21 going into injury time. But their Leicestershire opponents scored again before prop Ross Batty touched down at the death.

Barney's other tries came from Stuart Walker, James Hamer and George Carpenter, with Matthew Brown converting all four, prompting coach Martin Pepper to say: "Matthew had as good a kicking game as he has had all season."

He added: "Wheeler controlled the tackle situation very well. They were a bit more streetwise than us and probably deserved to win. But we had our chances and I'm very proud of what the boys have achieved.

"Out of a squad of 24, 12 will be back next season and we hope to get back to Twickenham. It has been a real thrill for them and we've all thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend.

"Joe Wheeler has never been on the losing side in three years in the first team at Oakham and he said he had never played in a harder game."