Halton are edged out by Everton
HALTON were in action at the Aquatics Centre in Wavertree at the weekend in round three of the Merseyside & District Gala.
After the first two rounds of the Merseyside & District Division One competition, Halton held a narrow lead going into round three and they were looking to maintain this.
They started off in great form leading after the first few races against old foes Everton, Garston, Liverpool Penguins and Prescot swimming clubs.
Halton’s good start to the gala included a number of first place finishes in the relays and some fine wins in the individual events.
It was not until the final few races that Everton overtook Halton. They eventually finished nine points ahead, Halton compiling 190 points while Everton secured first place with 197.
There were a number of fine performances with the relay teams winning five races and the individual events producing no less than 14 wins for Halton’s swimmers.
There were also seven runners-up spots and nine third-place finishes on the day.
Halton finished the gala with a great win in the boys’ freestyle cannon event.
Halton go into round four just three points behind Everton with two galas to go in what is a very exciting competition.
The standout individual performances by Halton went to Leah Galligan, Sophie Buckley, Ben Clayton, Beth Howard-Hughes, Sam Hyland, Elliot GriffithsMoore, Josh HowardHughes and Daniel Buckley
Reuben Sumner, Jess Smith, Alex Booth, George Winckles, Joel Sumner, Sam Shurie, Jack Deane, Ryan Sanders, Luke Nisted all helped to keep the score healthy, with good swims in the relays. ●
THE RTL-sponsored Widnes Wild moved up to third place in the Laidler Division table after a well deserved 3-2 victory at playoff rivals Telford Tigers on Sunday.
The previous night’s game – at the Deeside Dragons – was cancelled by the league due to the non-availability of match officials because of the bad weather and, with the end of the season fast approaching, a decision will have to be made as to how and when to reschedule the match.
The game on Sunday saw the Wild take a narrow 1-0 lead into the first break after player-coach Ollie Barron fired in a powerplay goal with just 47 seconds left to play in the period.
Widnes edged further ahead on 32 minutes with a second goal from Barron and the score remained at 2-0 at the end of the second period.
Telford upped their game noticeably in the third period and scored their first goal within three minutes of the restart.
A second followed on 51 minutes and the game was all tied up with just eight minutes left to play.
Barron scored his hat-trick goal just two minutes after that and the Wild defence then fought hard to keep the Tigers at bay during the closing minutes of the contest before eventually emerging victorious.
Speaking post-game, Barron said: “This weekend we were preparing for two games with four points up for grabs.
“Unfortunately Saturday’s game away at Deeside was called off as no officials could travel due to weather condi-