ATHERTON Town Under 15s enjoyed a triumphant end to their football season by winning a special invitation tournament in Sussex.

The event at Camber Sands, Rye, was held over three days with the young Town team winning through the group stages and, in a severe test of endurance and skill, they battled through the finals to pick up the competition winners trophy.

A party of 29 travelled for the tournament, including 14 players plus manager Len Thomas and his assistant Stuart Crilly.

The eventual success would never have been guessed at after the opening group game as the young Atherton side went down heavily 7-1 to local side Denton and South Heighton Youth. Deputy team boss Crilly takes up the story: "We had the better of the opening 15 minutes but the game hinged on a head injury to our keeper David Gleave. He was carried off and before we had time to regroup we were 2-0 down and 3-0 before the interval.

"Stephen Dando pulled a goal back but they got two in quick succession and that killed us off. We lost our shape but it wasn't as one-sided as the scoreline may suggest. It became a bit of a nightmare when we went to the laundrette and some of the shirts and shorts shrunk in the drier!

"Halfway through the second game we were 2-0 down, Adam Thomas still deputising in goal, and we looked to be on our way home. We'd missed chances and defended badly. We just had to win this game. "The second half performance was fantastic. Stephen Dando bagged a hat-trick, the third goal coming in the last minute and we won 3-2.

"Now the parents had to put some effort in. The game had been played in the morning in pouring rain and the kit was soaking wet. We didn't dare risk the laundrette again so each kit was washed by hand and then dried in front of radiators.

"The next game was the same afternoon and the kit was still damp as we kicked off but from then on we never looked back. We drew 4-4 with Istock from Leicester, playing some wonderful football and we were never behind with Tom Valentine and Dando netting two apiece.

"We looked to have won it but they got an equaliser in the last minute. We thought that had killed us off and we were all very low as we drove back to camp.

"But we found out that another result had gone our way and to our delight we were in the semis. That was the good news. The bad news was that the kit had to be washed and dried by hand again!

"We played Withymoor from the West Midlands in the Final and they had looked the strongest side in the competition. When they came out the smallest of them was over six foot! Somehow this made us more determined. We "passed" them off the pitch with an incredible display. We won 4-1 with Valentine and Dando again sharing the goals but the whole team performance was a joy to see and a credit to the lads. They flew the North West banner loud and proud."