First Class Netball: Regional Finals Place

1^st VII

The 1^st VII put in one of the most composed and impressive tournament performances of any team that Caterham has been lucky enough to produce. I was truly blown away by the standard of netball these girls produced against the most testing of opposition, and by the maturity and calmness in the most testing of sporting circumstances that they were exposed to during the day.

The girls immediately put the cat amongst the pigeons by defeating the highly-favoured Epsom College (10-5), and they then backed this up with a win against St John’s, Leatherhead (11-6). After a minor wobble against St Catherine’s, they then took points from every remaining match. The confidence and belief shone through the brightest against Lingfield Notre Dame and Coloma; against Lingfield the girls were down 1-5 at half-time, but they re-grouped and stayed composed to win the game 8-6. In the final game, an exhausted squad of players faced Coloma, who at that point were undefeated. We were right in it for the entire match, with our girls refusing to let their tired legs and their tired brains get the better of them. The final score was a hugely credible 8-9, almost causing what would have been the upset of the day. The girls finished a highly respectable fourth out of eight schools.

U16 VII

After enjoying a superb run-in to the tournament, with wins against Warlingham U16A VII and the Emanuel 3^rd VII, the U16 VII had their best performance in a county competition. Terrific play led to impressive victories against Wimbledon High and Coloma, as well as a hard fought draw against Royal Russell. The girls really did rise to the occasion and put in some epic performances against some of the best teams in the county. The girls competed all the way and pushed schools such as Tormead, St. Catherine’s and Alleyns to very narrow defeats. The girls finished fifth out of eight in their group, which puts them in the mix of top schools in Surrey. More importantly, the teamwork and spirit shown by the girls across the day shows what school sport at Caterham is all about.

U14 VII

With lots of expectation, and after an unbeaten qualifying round at the recent Surrey Schools competition, the girls were excited to get on court. They got off to a fantastic start, as they secured wins against Wimbledon, Emanuel, Alleyns and St George’s. Their penultimate group game saw a comfortable first half against Harrodian, leading 5-2 at half time, but a spirited Harrodian side came back with a brilliant second half performance pushing the girls to a nail-biting one goal win (8-7), with the final goal being scored in the dying seconds. After this excitement, the girls then faced arguably their hardest opponents of the day: Guildford High School. The winner of this game would top the group and go into play-offs for a place in the Regional Finals. Knowing what was at stake as the match got underway, the girls produced some stunning netball and took the victory 13-3.

This all important win at the end meant the girls topped their group and would face the runners up of the other pool, who turned out to be a very strong and determined Putney High team. The first half saw the game go goal for goal with nothing separating these two teams. Level at half time, the girls knew a single turnover was all that would determine the winners of this game. Fortunately that loss of possession went Caterham’s way and the shooters were able to calmly make it count at their end. A run of three goals for Caterham in the final minutes of the game meant the score finished 11-8. Overall the girls showed a fantastic display of team spirit and unity to finish the day unbeaten and deserving winners of a place in the Regional Finals, which will take place in January.