Seven West Cumbrian ARL stars played a key role as England Lionhearts returned home from a tour of Serbia unbeaten.

Under the charge of coach Paul Halcrow, from Kells, assisted by physio Russell Dougherty, the Lionhearts clinched two wins on their trip to Belgrade.

Jake Pearce, Sam Curwen and Joe Power all represented Wath Brow Hornets on the tour, with Owen Hoyles and Zac Olstrom from Ellenborough, plus Cockermouth Titans' John Irving and Aaron Burns, of Kells.

The team flew home on July 30 following a 56-8 win over a Belgrade Select 17, followed by a hard-fought victory over the Serbia U19 side, edging the encounter 30-20.

The youngsters retained the Belgrade Cup following the second win, under the captaincy of Wath Brow's Pearce.

The clash saw Curwen open the scoring with a try and a conversion.

England moved out to a 12-0 lead before Serbia fought back to level matters at 12-12.

Then good work from Irving and Hoyles pulled the Lionhearts ahead again and they did not surrender their advantage again, pulling away to win.

The tour had another special link to the area as Wath Brow's John Curwen present the team with their jerseys, all bearing Gav#1 on them, on behalf of the Gavin Curwen Heart Screening Foundation.