In the first of a two-part review of Halton sport in 2005, DAVE BETTLEY looks at the sporting scene in the first half of the year.
JANUARY
MOTORSPORT: Formula Two sidecar team OTC Racing owned by Widnes businessman Pete Alton retained their British Championship.
GOLF: Colleagues paid tribute to the late former Widnes captain Norman Rigby, a one-time captain at the Society of Liverpool Golf Captains and ex-president of Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs. FOOTBALL: Runcorn footballer Mike Moseley became only the sixth player since the war to complete a century of goals for Cheshire non-league club Witton Albion.
BOXING: Les Herbert of Widnes featured in a new book on Merseyside boxing greats alongside world champions John Conteh, Paul Hodkinson, Dick Tiger and Hogan Bassey.
TABLE TENNIS: Top international and national talent descended on Widnes as the Kingsway Leisure Centre hosted British Premier League action.
FEBRUARY
AMATEUR RL: The Powergen Challenge Cup trophy came to town in the build-up to the only first-round derby outside London in which Halton Simms Cross beat St Marie's.
MARTIAL ARTS: All 12 entrants from Hooks Institute of Tae Kwon-do returned with gold medals from the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
FOOTBALL: A last-minute Gemma Lancaster goal handed Fairfield High a 2-1 comeback win against Sutton High in the Coca-Cola/English Schools FA's Cheshire County Cup final.
RUGBY LEAGUE: The return of rugby league to the south of the borough was announced through the formation of the Runcorn Vikings to compete in the 2005 Summer Conference season.
MARCH
STUDENT RL: Widnesian skipper Craig Bennett helped Cambridge University win the 25th PCubed Varsity match after they had trailed Oxford by 16 points in front of Sky TV cameras.
TABLE TENNIS: Halton grabbed two county titles with Mark Roscaleer taking the Under-16s singles championship and Matthew McCormick its U11s equivalent.
RUGBY UNION: Whitehouse Park old boys celebrated the 25th anniversary of their club's formation as successors Runcorn RUFC were prevented from returning to action after a three-month ban.
SNOOKER: Overton Memorial Hall clinched the Widnes & District Snooker League's Section One title with other title honours going to Halton RBL (Di-vision Two), Moorfield B (Division Three), USC B (Division Four) and Moor-field C (Division Five).
AWARDS: Halton & Frodsham Harriers' George Bunner, Linda Smith and Bill Smith were honoured in Vale Royal Sports awards along with Helsby RUFC's Alex Rutter and Tony Ryder plus Keith Stubbs of Frodsham Cricket Club.
APRIL
DARTS: Ace Ian White, a Runcornian living in Widnes, crowned his England international debut among professional heavyweights Andy Fordham and Mervyn King with a win.
BASKETBALL: Helsby High School star Devan Bailey's impressive form for England Under 16s maintained his bid for a place at the European Championships in July 2006 in Bulgaria.
FOOTBALL: Goalkeeper Kevin Ginever from Runcorn, a pupil at Ashley School in Widnes, made the inaugural England Learning Disabilities U17s squad.
SNOOKER: Widnes town team blackballed Crosby to win the Merseyside Inter-League, avenging defeat in the previous year's final.
FOOTBALL: Everton Academy star Aimee Cleaver-Kane from Widnes earned a spot in the England U15s training squad.
MAY
RUGBY LEAGUE: Honours went to St Marie's (Widnes ARL's Finnforest Cup), Sts Peter and Paul High (Year-11 Power-gen Champion Schools Trophy), Widnes Ball (NWC Cup) and West Bank Bears (NWC Bowl).
DARTS: The Weekly News helped to bring 12-times world champion Phil Taylor and other top stars to town for a weekly round of 888.com Premier League Darts.
SWIMMING: Katie Holmes, 14, won an age-group 100m breaststroke title for Halton SC in the Northern Counties Youth Championships.
BOWLS: Widnes Rec's Val Young and Paula Gamon made county history in successfully defending their Cheshire pairs title.
TABLE TENNIS: Lynsey Pich was selected for England Schools after soaring up the national rankings and reaching the last eight of the National Trials.
JUNE
AMATEUR RL: Simms Cross landed the Champion of Champions Cup to add to a league and cup double in NWC Premier Division and second-row Neil Highfield's Widnes ARL PoY prize.
HOCKEY: Nicky O'Donnell of Runcorn shared in Hightown-Bowdon's European Hockey Cup bronze-medal success in Holland and was named player-of-the-year by the premiership side.
DARTS: Brian Dutton achieved the rare feat of singles titles in both the 501 and Round The Board sections of the Widnes & District League.
RUGBY LEAGUE: Coach Neil Bourke and players Gareth Jones and Paul O'Connor headed Down Under with Ireland for the Student World Cup while England named Vikings U21s scrum-half Martin Ainscough.
CYCLING: Laura Allen, 11, from Widnes returned to top form by winning the Under-12 Girls' British Circuit Championship for Abesco/Cruden New Brighton CC in Yorkshire.
