Yarm School failed in their bid to reach the Twickenham-hosted Daily Mail Under-15 Schools Cup, beaten 17-0 by John Fisher from Purley, at Castlecroft, Wolverhampton, on Saturday.
While Yarm competed honestly enough, they were never able to engineer many openings in a solid John Fisher defence, whereas the South East side scored three times.
"We probably played as well as we could have done and in that respect we did not let ourselves down," said coach Stuart Hardy.
"We reached the last four of a competition in which 399 schools started out and we've enjoyed the experience. Being beaten by a better side helps to ease the pain once the initial disappointment has passed.
Bradford Grammar School saw their hopes of a final place snatched from them at the death when their semi-final opponents Epsom College scored in the last minute to win 17-14.
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