JUDO: Clubs from across the West Midlands turned out in force to honour late Wyre Forest judo player Mark Cockburn at the annual memorial competition.

Samurai clinched 22 medals, including eight golds in 14 categories, to emerge as the top club at the Cockburn Cup.

It was a tremendous triumph for the Kidderminster group, especially as 10 players gained medals in their first ever competition.

The action started with the junior categories for new or inexperienced players, which included a special section for black belt men.

Samurai's top belts took a clean sweep of all four medals with Rob Dalloway winning the gold and main cup in some style.

Matt Godfrey was the silver medalist with bronzes for Matt Dutton and Andy Davies in a great occasion for the watching juniors.

Steven Wagstaff shrugged off his weight disadvantage to throw everybody with ease on his way to the boys' lightweights final where he met club-mate Mark Circus.

Making his competition debut, Circus recorded good victories against bigger players but Wagstaff was a comprehensive winner at the last stage.

Two inexperienced Samurai newcomers did well in the next weight as Anthony Phelen took silver and Sam Matthews a bronze.

Another debutant, Ross Priest, also made the final in the next weight up but was unlucky to lose to a Droitwich opponent.

The promising Jack Roberts swept everybody aside in the next section to face Edward Connor who had completed an even more impressive demolition job.

Roberts quickly settled matters in the final to return with gold and leave Connor with silver.

Callum Lowe, who has returned to the sport after drifting away, flew through his rounds to take the club's total to three boys' golds.

Though Samurai had no-one competing in the next weight group, Kidderminster's Charles Davis, a King's School Judo Club member in Worcester, won bronze.

Normal service was resumed by the town club in group seven where David Hadley and another tremendous prospect, Simon Cooper, contested one of six all-Samurai finals.

Hadley, with quite a bit of success under his belt already, won the final comfortably.

Training partners Matthew Lowe and Ryan Pitcock met in another final for the second time in recent weeks.

It was one of the best matches of the day with Lowe close to a maximum score several times only to fall to a series of lower efforts from gold-winner Pitcock.

Newcomer Peter Jones put together a good display and several maximum-point wins for a bronze medal.

In the girls, the lightest group set the Samurai off on winning ways as Emily Watson landed four big victories for gold with Amber Gaughan and Lottie Millington claiming bronzes.

Beginners and twins, Sally and Rachel Moon, did better than expected to win some matches with good moves.

S Moon pipped her sister, who fought back for a bronze, for a place in the final where she lost to a more experienced Worcester girl.

Another new name, Caris Butler, produced an excellent throw on the way to a determined bronze-medal win, despite suffering with asthma.

Afton James was a revelation with a series of quick maximum-point throw wins taking her into the final to do battle with club-mate Hannah Cooper.

A good match between the two saw H Cooper eventually throw James for gold medal.

In the last girls' weight, Katherine Lloyd-Jones made the final in impressive style but was left with silver against a good Stourbridge opponent, despite taking a high-score lead.