FURNESS Judo Club duo Josh Gallagher and Harvey Burns showed off their impressive skills on the international stage in Sweden.

The young pair were part of the North West Area Junior Judo squad, competing in the Bord Nord Cup at Sparbanken Skåne Arena, Lund.

The international youth competition sees participants travelling from all over Europe and other parts of the world, with players from USA, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand taking part. Gallagher fought well in his first international event and was unlucky to lose his opening fight by a small score, after doing most of the attacking.

In his second contest, the Furness boy tried hard but eventually lost by the maximum Ippon score. He gave 100 per cent and will gain a lot from the experience.

Burns – in his second Bord Nord Cup – won his first three fights in convincing fashion and by maximum points, with some great throws and hold downs.

This put him into the semi-finals, where he fought a much bigger German player and it was a small score apiece midway through, before he eventually lost by Ippon.

Burns entered the bronze medal fight and fought hard before being narrowly beaten towards the end of the fight by a Norwegian competitor.

After a great display in the competition, the Furness boys were invited to a two-day international training camp, which was led by a world-class team of coaches.

This gave them a good opportunity to study and learn new judo techniques which will help their progress in the future.