Preston's Canaries continued their rich vein of form with a series of convincing victories in the annual North West Asian football play-offs.

They will now go on to represent the North West at the national Asian Football championships held in Scotland in September. It capped a remarkable season for the side after they clinched promotion to the Premier division of the Preston Sunday League in April.

However it wasnt all plain sailing. After beating Blackburn United 3-0 in their final group game they had to play Paak United of Nelson again in a tie-breaker after both teams finished on equal points.

Canaries (above) though proved their worth with a 2-0 victory with goals from Farook Khan and Mohammed Ali. They went through their four games without conceding a single goal. Surprisingly with a defence which on paper didnt look as accomplished as years gone by, even with the return of Akujy.

A big bonus for Canaries this season has been the availability of good young and experienced players, especially in midfield.

Paak United (below) should feel proud of having proved the pundits wrong. They had a lacklustre season but went through three games with clean sheets - despite having an outfield player (Jhanghir) posing as a netter. He didnt put a foot wrong.

With an early injury (hamstring) to talisman Manzar Ditta on the final Sunday the side were up against it as the day wore on. Mark Khan was a revelation and Alam Ghir continued to cause problems for the opposition but it wasnt enough.

Last years North West champs Asia FC fielded a team of new recruits who kept themselves in the hunt until the final whistle of their final group game. They may have lost their first game heavily 4-0 but they came back well against Blackburn United (3-1) and went close to equalising against Paak. But some solid defending from Paak kept the Rochdale boys at bay.

For the second summer running Blackburn United were humiliated.

They began games well and against Paak in their first game should have at least earned a draw. But against Asia and Canaries they created very little and played much of their final game with ten men after one fo their experienced players (Master) was sent off in the first five minutes.

They missed the Hafeji brothers usual driving runs and the long-term injury to Valli Adam hasnt helped in that middle.

There were few highlights from a squad obviously in transition. It was left to goalkeeper Khalid Esat brought in at the eleventh hour to pull off a string of superb saves to keep the score respectable.

The honeymoon period didnt last very long for the new manager - but in football it never does.

Preston's Canaries continued their rich vein of form with a series of convincing victories in the annual North West Asian football play-offs.

They will now go on to represent the North West at the national Asian Football championships held in Scotland in September. It capped a remarkable season for the side after they clinched promotion to the Premier division of the Preston Sunday League in April.

However it wasnt all plain sailing. After beating Blackburn United 3-0 in their final group game they had to play Paak United of Nelson again in a tie-breaker after both teams finished on equal points.

Canaries (above) though proved their worth with a 2-0 victory with goals from Farook Khan and Mohammed Ali. They went through their four games without conceding a single goal. Surprisingly with a defence which on paper didnt look as accomplished as years gone by, even with the return of Akujy.

A big bonus for Canaries this season has been the availability of good young and experienced players, especially in midfield.

Paak United (below) should feel proud of having proved the pundits wrong. They had a lacklustre season but went through three games with clean sheets - despite having an outfield player (Jhanghir) posing as a netter. He didnt put a foot wrong.

With an early injury (hamstring) to talisman Manzar Ditta on the final Sunday the side were up against it as the day wore on. Mark Khan was a revelation and Alam Ghir continued to cause problems for the opposition but it wasnt enough.

Last years North West champs Asia FC fielded a team of new recruits who kept themselves in the hunt until the final whistle of their final group game. They may have lost their first game heavily 4-0 but they came back well against Blackburn United (3-1) and went close to equalising against Paak. But some solid defending from Paak kept the Rochdale boys at bay.

For the second summer running Blackburn United were humiliated.

They began games well and against Paak in their first game should have at least earned a draw. But against Asia and Canaries they created very little and played much of their final game with ten men after one fo their experienced players (Master) was sent off in the first five minutes.

They missed the Hafeji brothers usual driving runs and the long-term injury to Valli Adam hasnt helped in that middle.

There were few highlights from a squad obviously in transition. It was left to goalkeeper Khalid Esat brought in at the eleventh hour to pull off a string of superb saves to keep the score respectable.

The honeymoon period didnt last very long for the new manager - but in football it never does.