THERE seems to be no stopping Holy Trinity Primary School after they clinched their fifth successive Darwen Primary Schools' Netball tournament title.

The all-conquering girls beat Sudell A 6-1 in the final of the annual event which was held at Darwen Leisure Centre and included all nine primary schools from the town.

A total of 12 teams took part with Holy Trinity, Avondale and Sudell all entering two teams. Other schools that took part included St Joseph's, Ashleigh, St Peter's, St Cuthberts, St Barnabas and St Edwards.

The tournament was split into four mini leagues with the group winner qualifying for the semi finals.

And all four semi finalists made it through with 100 per cent records.

In Group A, Ashleigh defeated Avondale B and St Joseph's while St Cuthberts overcame St Peter's and St Barnabas in Group B.

The two Holy Trinity sides came face to face in Group C with the A team emerging victorious, whose path to the semi finals was completed with a win against Avondale A.

And Sudell A made up the last semi finalist with wins against Sudell B and St Edwards.

Holy Trinity A beat Ashleigh 9-1 to book another place in the final where they would play Sudell A who beat St Cuthberts 4-1. Despite the 6-1 scoreline, Sudell A pushed Holy Trinity A all the way in one of the most open and entertaining finals in years.

Attackers Liane Aspinall and Emily Aspin grabbed most of Holy Trinity's goals but it was a good all round team performance. The rest of the school's team was made from Jennifer Gaul, Kim Gentry, Rachel Jackson, Rachel Bowker and Sian Rawlings.

Christine Wilkinson of Holy Trinity school, who organised the event, said: "The standard overall has improved in recent years with all the teams showing good technical ability and we saw some very good play from all the schools that took part.

"The girls played with great skill and enthusiasm and even though we won the tournament again it is getting harder and harder each time as other schools continue to improve. There were a lot of very good games and a lot of very close games."

The continuing rise in the standard of play has coincided with the formation of the Darwen Town team which was launched 18 months ago and now has two teams who play clubs from across the country.

The squad train at Holy Trinity school every Monday where three girls from each school are invited to practice and improve on their skills and techniques.

Players then return to their schools and pass on the coaching tips they receive which seems to have benefited the standard of play in Darwen.

Holy Trinity are still in the hunt to complete a league and cup double but they face stiff opposition from a number of teams as the league programme draws to a close.

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