What a day!
After being crowned Wyre and Fylde champions of handball undefeated, we were invited to the North West handball tournament held in Oldham.
8 teams ranging from Liverpool, Manchester, Southport, Lancaster and the famous Garstang played in two groups of 4, with all teams progressing to the quarter finals with 4th place playing 1st in the opposite group and 3rd place playing 2nd in the opposite group.
The morning didn’t go quite to plan as the team lost 5-4 to Lowton in the first game and 4-2 to Caulderstones.
However, in the third game, the team came together with strong drives to goal and perfect passing to win an impressive 5-0 over County High.
Quarter Final – The quarter final was a tough one. After full time the score was 5-5 and an added 5 minutes overtime was played. After this overtime, another 5 minutes was to be played with the score being 6-6. In the dying seconds Alex took a drive to goal, shooting and hit the post which bounced out while the referee blew his whistle. Only the near side referee called a foot fault as it hit a defenders leg on the way out after hitting the post. Steps up Will J, at the 9 meter line. Has to score or the game goes to triple overtime, Mr Armer not watching the shot. Jubilation!!!
Will scored the shot, over a wall of 6 players and the boys progressed to the Semi-finals!
Semi Final – Back and forth the game went against Caulderstones, the strong Liverpool team that beat us in the groups. However, through a strong team performance on defence, great breaks by Christian and great goals scored, the game finished 5-4! Garstang progressing to the final.
Final – The final was against Moels Cop of Southport, who we hadn’t played yet in tournament. A strong battle of defending, steals by Sam B and a pass opening up a lane for a shot by Alex F gave us our first goal. Will Jardine driving hard to the goal and scoring secured our second. With the score 2-2, Sam B with a great steal give and go three step shot gave us the 3-2 lead to carry us to victory.
As the boys P.E teacher and coach I couldn’t be more proud. They overcame the initial adversity of losing and became a stronger unit for it. They listened, learned and left everything in terms of effort on the court. North-West champions and the prospect of National finals in June! Well done boys!
Mr Armer, Teacher of PE