Silverdale and Halton triumph in rural 5-a-side football competitions
Lancaster City Council held their annual Rural Primary Schools’ 5-a-side football competitions on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 May 2008 at Salt Ayre Sports Centre.
Lancaster City Council held their annual Rural Primary Schools’ 5-a-side football competitions on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 May 2008 at Salt Ayre Sports Centre.
This year’s event proved to be as popular as ever with 31 teams from 21 different primary schools entering. Teams from as far away as Melling, Silverdale and Wray took part in what proved to be two very dramatic competitions.
Wednesday, 21 May - Small Schools competition
16 teams from 13 different schools competed in the small schools event. The small schools event saw some excellent footballing skills to delight the spectators. As the temperature off the pitch soared so did the action on the pitch.
The group stages saw Arkholme, Yealand and Cockerham A finishing top of their groups unbeaten. These were going to be the teams to beat. The teams that progressed through to the quarter finals of the small schools competition were: Arkholme v Leck; Yealand v Nether Kellet A; Cockerham A v Our Lady of Lourdes A and Melling v Silverdale. The group stages saw some excellent football played by all the teams involved.
All the games were closely fought contests with the game between the defending champions, Arkholme and Leck being one of the best. Against all the odds a tired looking Arkholme team were finally beaten 3- 1. One of the other early favourites also fell at the quarter final stages with Nether Kellet A beating Yealand 2 – 0. Cockerham A and a strong Silverdale team made up the other semi final teams.
Both semi finals didn’t disappoint as the best four teams in the competition fought it out for a place in the final. Silverdale put on a great footballing display taking Nether Kellet A apart by winning 3 - 0. The other semi final between Leck and Cockerham A, was much closer, with the game being drawn 2 – 2 after full time. The game then went into extra time golden goal, the first team to score wins! With just 30 seconds left on the clock and penalties around the corner, Cockerham A managed to find that extra ounce of energy to put together the winning attack and score the goal to put them into the final.
The final was between the best two teams in the competition - Silverdale v Cockerham A. The teams were so evenly matched that after full time the game was 0 – 0. So the final went into extra time golden goal. Cockerham A had already experienced this in the semi finals and would that give them the edge? Unfortunately for Cockerham A after dominating for the majority of the final they were caught on the counter attack by Silverdale and suffered the ultimate price by conceding a golden goal.
The winners, Silverdale, received a medal and trophy each as well as the Lancaster City Council Cultural Services Rural 5-a-side Football Competition cup to keep for one year. The runners up, Cockerham A, also received medals and trophies.
Thursday, 22 May - Big Schools Competition
15 teams from 8 different schools competed in this year’s big schools event. The group stages saw some superb footballing skills as the spectators watched on.
During the group stages the main teams to watch were Halton A, who had won this competition for the last 2 years. The teams that progressed through to the quarter finals of the big schools competition were; St.Peters A v Ellel A; Bolton-le-Sands A v Ellel B; Christchurch A v Trumacar A and Halton A v St. Peters B.
All these games were very closely fought contests. The game between Bolton-Le-Sands A and Ellel B had to be decided on penalties, with Bolton-Le-Sands A just edging through 5 – 4.
The game between Christchurch A and Trumacar A went to golden goal, with Trumacar A scoring the winning goal. Both of the other quarter finals were just as entertaining with what was probably the best game of the competition between Halton A and St.Peters B. This game could have been won by either team with chances being missed at both ends. Halton A proved too strong in the end scoring with just 2 minutes left and hanging on to book their place in the semi final. Ellel A beat St.Peters A in the other quarter final.
In the semi finals Halton A continued their demolition by sweeping aside Trumacar A 3 – 0. The other semi was much closer with Ellel A narrowly beating Bolton-Le-Sands A 1 – 0.
The final was between Ellel A and Halton A. Again, Halton A proved much too strong for a tired looking Ellel A team who despite their very best efforts were beaten 2 – 0.
The runners-up, Ellel A all received a medal and trophy, which helped, console their defeat. With the defending champions, Halton A, retaining their Lancaster City Council Cultural Services Rural Primary School 5-a-side Football Competition shield to keep for another year as well as taking home a trophy and a medal each.
All the teams that took part in both competitions entered them in the spirit in which they were intended, with the main aims being fair play, fun, enjoyment and participation.
Every competitor received a medal for their afternoon’s efforts.
Date Updated: 19/03/09