On Sunday 26th February, West Yorkshire Goalball Club hosted the 1st ever ‘War of the Roses’ tournament with 21 players from Yorkshire teaming up to take on 14 players from Lancashire.
After a few warm-up games, the war began with the white roses of Yorkshire establishing a 3 games to 1 lead. The red roses of Lancashire fought back though, winning the next 2 games to level the score at 3 games all. The next game was an exciting 3-3 draw. This was followed by another win for Yorkshire, edging them ahead by 4 games to 3, but then Lancashire dominated, winning the final 4 games and therefore winning overall by 7 games to 4.
As there was still some playing time remaining, it was decided that there would be an ad hoc penalty shoot out with 2 players from each team randomly drawn to face 6 shots from the opposition. Yet again Lancashire triumphed so were duly awarded the Roses – the chocolate variety!
It was a fantastic afternoon of goalball and, despite the rivalry, great sportsmanship was shown by all the players – especially towards those who were making their competitive debuts.
