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Scouts paddle to major canoe title

29/ 5/2003

A YOUNG Middleton scouts team has become the North West under 18s Youth League champions in canoe polo.

The league, organised under the auspices of the British Canoe Union, is highly competitive. The best Middleton teams had managed in the past was third place.

Middleton set off with a run of four wins. The next three games brought a draw, a win, and a defeat. They finished top of the league by three points.

Other teams involved were from Liverpool, Derby, Ribble, The Wirral, and Salford.

Middleton Scouts coach Peter Williams said he was very proud of the lads' performance. He added: "I told them at the start of the season that they were going to be badly beaten this year, but with a bit more experience they may finish second or third next year. How wrong they proved me."

Regular players David Towler and Jonathan Hayes were missing due to holidays, and past player James Williams was dragged out of premature retirement to add some steel to the defence.

Team captain David Canavan and senior player Michael Sagar had the game of their lives, demolishing the opposition defences. Midfield stalwart Jonathan Williams scored a critical goal in the second game of the night against previous title winners Friends of Allonby.

The youngest player in the team, William Doyle, held off a barrage of shots.

Coach Williams paid tribute to senior polo coaches Anthony Vary and Richard Fleming. He said: "They were responsible for the improvement in the squad over the year."