SALESBURY Church of England Primary School have been crowned the kings of the county after winning the Lancashire Schools FA Under 11s Danone Cup.

The Blackburn school beat local rivals Huncoat 5-1 in the final at the JMO Sports Park in Skelmersdale and will now go forward to the northern finals of the national competition.

There was a distinct East Lancashire flavour to the competition with four of the eight teams from the area - and three of them winning through to the semi finals.

For as well as Salesbury and Hyndburn winners Huncoat, the Lancashire final also included St Laurence from Chorley and St Joseph’s from Pendle.

Teams were split in to two groups of four with the winners and runners-up in each progressing to the knockout stages.

In Group One, Salesbury were paired with St Joseph’s, St Laurence, and Leyland Methodists from South Ribble.

Salesbury topped the group with seven points after drawing 0-0 with St Joseph’s and beating St Laurence and Leyland Methodists, both 2-0.

St Joseph’s joined them in the last four but only after edging St Laurence out on goal difference after both finished on four points.

Huncoat were the dominate side in Group B, winning all three games to finish with a maximum nine points, beating Breck (Wyre), Heyhouse (Fylde) and Lancaster Road (Morecambe) by the same 1-0 scoreline. Heyhouses were second with four points.

In the first semi final, Salesbury edged out Heyhouses 1-0 while in an all-East Lancashire clash, Huncoat made it four wins out of four after beating St Joseph’s 2-0.

The final, which was seven minutes each way, was a keenly contested affair with both teams locked at 1-1 at the half time break.

However, Salesbury turned on the style after the break and scored four times without reply to clinch a 5-1 victory thanks to a hat-trick from Oliver Rawson while Harley Guest and Adam Wharton both scored.

The winning team, managed by Stephen Bird and captained by Connor Eccleston, included Jacob Mithoo, Lanre Okewusi, Adam Wharton, Daniel Rawson, Ishan Goshawk, Harley Guest and Oliver Rawson.