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Rochdale teams move up the rankings

4/ 2/2002

ROCHDALE Goalball Club entered two teams in the prestigious John Oakley Memorial Tournament which was held at the University of Wolverhampton.

The "A" team of Martin Howarth, Amjad Khan, and Michael Howarth had a day of mixed fortunes in the top flight section.

In the round-robin they beat Worcester 3-2, and Hereford 5-2. They also drew 5-5 with Leicester.

In the last two group games Rochdale had no answer to the power of West Midlands, and Loughborough, and they were well beaten in both matches.

Rochdale still finished as runners-up in their section.

The "B" team of Emma Jones, Sally-Anne Jackson, and Paul Jackson competed in the development section and finished a well deserved third.

In their pool matches Rochdale beat Bury 6-3 and Loughborough B 7-4.

They then met West Midlands B. The score was 3-3 with only seconds left when Rochdale conceded a penalty. The Midlands team scored, and there was no time for a restart.

Rochdale met Exhall A (Coventry) in a play-off for third and fourth place. They ran out comfortable 6-2 winners. This was the first of five ranking events which will be held this year.

The "A" team took 13 points to move up to fourth spot in the national ratings, and the "B" team's six points moved them up to seventh place.