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Goalball trophy for Rochdale team

19/12/2002

THE Rochdale Goalball Development Squad travelled to Leeds to compete in a British Blind Sport ranking tournament.

The "B" team, under the spotlight in the absence of the "A" team, finished runners-up. The team was Emma Jones, Sally-Anne Jackson, Katy Tyers, and Sarah Kelly.

The girls looked strong throughout, and ran up an impressive set of results in the five match round-robin. They beat Leeds 7-2, Rochdale "C" 3-2, Bury 3-1, and Worcester 4-2 before contesting a tight 1-1 draw with Moor End.

Moor End achieved a similar set of results, and a golden goal play-off was needed to decide the winners. The decisive goal was scored by Moor End.

The newly formed Rochdale "C" team of Robert Howarth, Steve Boswell, and Davie Pedley, in only their second outing, played beyond expectations to finish fourth. Crushing 9-3 and 8-4 wins over Worcester and Leeds demonstrated the outstanding potential of this threesome.

Inexperience showed in 3-2 and 7-5 defeats by Rochdale "B" and Moor End. They were also beaten 9-3 by Bury.

It was the second year running that a Rochdale team had finished as runners-up in this tournament. For this reason, and their sportsmanship throughout the day, they were awarded the Len Floyd Trophy for endeavour.