THE final of the very first Farleys Netball Knockout tournament brought together the competition's two outstanding teams.

Eventual champions St Aidens A and runners-up Darwen One proved to be unbeatable in the early rounds and netted a mighty 493 goals between them.

The super Saints, who averaged 30 goals a game, breezed through to the final after conceding just 47 goals in their six matches on route.

Darwen, however, who netted an average of 40 goals a game, were even more impressive in their relentless march to the final as they conceded just 30 goals -- and beat Waddington 44-0 in their Group C match.

The final between the two netball heavyweights promised to be a real thriller and they didn't disappoint as in the end the Saints nicked it by just two points, beating Darwen 22-20.

A total of 20 teams took part in the inaugural event which was sponsored by Farleys and organised by Blackburn with Darwen Council's community events team.

Teams were split in to four groups of five with the top two progressing through to the knockout stages.

In the quarter finals, St Aidens A beat Tudor Rose 44-5 while Darwen One beat Duke of Wellington 34-8. Darwen Two also made the last four thanks to a 24-8 win against Crazy Crackers. Plus Fours made up the semi finalists with a 20-14 win against host side Farleys.

In the first semi final, Darwen One beat Plus Fours 27-13 while St Aidens were given a tough test by Darwen Two before eventually winning 21-15. The final itself could not have been any closer before the Saints finally hung on to win. Louise Vickery of the newly crowned champions was named Referees' Player of the Tournament while the Players' Player of the Tournament was Pippa Smith of Tudor Rose.