A NORTH-East team missed out on a place in the world championships of their sport by a single point when they took on the cream of the European crop in Amsterdam.

Darlington's Eastbourne Eagles were hoping for a place in the NFL World Flag Football Championship when they represented Britain in the competition's European finals in Amsterdam on Saturday.

When the final game of the non-contact American football contest was played, the Darlington youngsters were watching on as The Netherlands' champions took on the top Spanish side.

The Eagles needed home side Reigresbos Raiders to beat Pere Vire Viches for them to clinch the world championship place from the round robin tournament, held as part of the World Bowl IX celebrations.

But the Spaniards claimed victory in the final minute, to win by a point and leave the British team disappointed.

They had earlier lost to the Spaniards and beaten the Dutch.

Eagles coach Jon Tait said: "Of course we're disappointed not to be going to the world finals in Berlin, but I think the lads enjoyed themselves."

Some 31,000 fans turned out for the World Bowl, with many taking in the flag football as part of the event.

There was some consolation for the Eagles as they joined fans of the Barcelona Dragons and Berlin Thunder to watch World Bowl IX, the championship game of NFL Europe.

The Eagles team were Danny Wilson, Leo Applegate, Gary Robinson, Daniel Woodford, Andrew Poad, and Christopher Howard.

The teams were seen live on US TV as they were paraded before thousands of fans