Pupils at Selsdon High School took on some of the country's top public schools at their own game.

A team of boys from the South Croydon school entered the National Eton Fives Schools Championships, in Highgate, north London, where they found themselves pitted against pupils from privileged schools like Eton and Harrow.

Despite the massive difference between the schools, Selsdon is ranked 3,351st in the league table of 3,579 English secondary schools while Eton lies in 226th place, the U14 team was undeterred from competing.

Fives is a handball game played by two teams of two in a three-walled court with a ball made of cork. It has a similar scoring system to squash.

The boys were encouraged to learn the game by their modern languages tutor James Toop, who is a national champion at Eton Fives. Most schools entering the competition have their own Fives court on which to sharpen their game and will generally practice on it several times a week.

But at £20,000, buying a court was out of the question for Selsdon High. So, to keep their game on form, the Selsdon High team travelled to Mr Toop's old school, St Olave's Grammar, in Orpington.

At one stage of the championships last month the boys led against Harrow, but despite their natural talent for the game, the lead slipped away.

After narrowly failing to qualify for the final round Mr Toop said he wasn't disappointed. The team now has its sights set on next year's U15 championships.