TONGE Moor licked the opposition to collect the year five and six schools’ tchoukball title.

Eight teams from seven local primary schools converged on the sports hall at Bolton St Catherine’s Academy to play the game developed in Switzerland in the 1970s.

In the fast-paced seven-a-side sport the aim is to throw the ball against a small trampoline and have it bounce outside the D-shaped ‘forbidden zone’ in front of the target without any opposing players catching it.

The game is designed to be non-contact and played at a furious speed, since players can take no more than three steps with the ball, or hold onto it for more than three seconds.

While defending, teams cannot try to intercept the opposition’s passes and when on the attack teams must have no more than three passes before shooting at the frame.

Bolton St Catherine’s Academy entered an A and a B team into the tournament, and they were joined by teams representing Red Lane School, Blackshaw, Tonge Moor, SS Osmund and Andrews Primary School, St Stephens and All Martyrs and Moorgate Primary School, who won the competition last year.

The teams were initially split into groups of four to play five-minute matches in a round-robin format with the winners and runners-up in each group progressing to the semi-finals.

Tonge Moor topped their group and were pitted against local rivals Moorgate in the knockout stage, while St Stephens took on the A team from Bolton St Catherine’s.

Tonge Moor reached the final after a thrilling 6-4 win while the remaining host team were knocked out after St Stephens’ 10-5 victory.

The St Catherines team did finish the day on a high note, winning the third-and-fourth place play-off 6-4.

That preceded an exciting final in which neither side was especially dominant but Tonge Moor, with four members who played in the school’s success in 2016’s year four competition, scraping by thanks to powerful shooting when they got within sight of the target.