WORLD under 23 medallist Colin Scott's bid for a Boat Race Blue suffered a setback on the River Thames with defeat in the Cambridge trial eights race.

The Malvern rower's boat led for the first two miles and was still overlapping hitting the last quarter of the race.

But with the last bend swinging in their opponents' favour, Scott's boat finally lost out by three lengths - still a close margin in over four miles of a head-to-head rowing race.

With the RGSAO Worcester product at seven behind Australian former world junior champion Tim Perkins, their True Love crew blasted off the Putney start at 46 strokes-a-minute to take an early quarter of a length lead.

Things looked good after six minutes of racing as the river began to swing their way towards the giant Surrey bend. But opponents One Night Stand, who had gone off at a slower rate, began to pile on the pressure.

But they could not quite get their bows level and went through Barnes Bridge with three-quarters of a mile to race a length in arrears and there was no way back for Scott and Co.

Defeat does not mean the end of the 22-year-old's Boat Race hopes after three races for the Cambridge reserves.

The coaches always try to pick matched crews for the trial eights race and with Scott given the prestige seven seat in one of the boats, he still has every chance of making the cut when the Light Blues crew is selected.