1.   Only after surmounting this final hurdle were they given permanent appointments.

2.   Town made all the running... but they kept on falling at the final hurdle in front of goal...

3.   An agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement has been near for the past two weeks with a final hurdle apparently the issue of service time.

4.   And that victory might have been the final hurdle enabling him to leave Kentucky.

5.   And this afternoon the Senate is expected to vote on what could be the final hurdle to passage.

6.   A final hurdle for proponents of gas deregulation is the state Legislature.

7.   A final regulatory hurdle for Thomson is to revise a plan to charge rivals for using a legal page-numbering system, analysts said.

8.   A final hurdle could be political, experts agreed.

9.   After all the tubes are taken out, the final hurdle after surgery is coming home.