U14 VII Regional Netball Finals

U14 VII Regional Netball Finals

Last Sunday the U14 VII travelled to Lady Eleanor Holles School for the Regional Netball Finals. Having started their campaign back in November by winning the Surrey County qualifiers, the girls were full of confidence as to what they could possibly achieve – and rightly so.

The tournament got off to the perfect start: a 14-3 dominant performance against Forest School, which gave the girls fantastic confidence and showed that they really meant business. Next up was Bromley High, a school with a strong netball reputation, and the girls were challenged here but dug deep for a 6-4 win.

The girls then had to prepare themselves for two tough games on the run: Goldolphin and Latymer, followed immediately by Surbiton High, who were both also yet to lose at this point in the competition. Goldolphin and Latymer took charge from the first whistle and led the whole way. The girls fought hard but couldn’t overcome a spirited Goldolphin team, with the game finishing in a 5-8 loss.

Surbiton High were up next and the girls re-grouped and prepared themselves for what they knew was a must-win match. Surbiton hit the ground running and were leading going into half time, but the girls knew the significance of the game and produced some outstanding turnovers in defence, giving the shooters the opportunity to put us ahead. The girls held strong and in the final few minutes took an 8-6 win.

The final two matches of the day saw the girls take on St Helens and Sevenoaks. Two wins here would secure a place in the incredibly prestigious National Finals. However, as can so often happen in a tournament, having just seen out a ferocious battle against Surbiton they immediately came unstuck in their very next game. A quick start from St Helen’s meant they took the lead early on and unfortunately Caterham couldn’t quite recover, with St Helen’s taking the win by a single goal. Disappointed but determined not to finish on a loss, the girls came out fighting against Sevenoaks, with a superb final score of 12-7.

Knowing that Surbiton had also lost two games we waited to hear how goal average would separate second and third place. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for Caterham and 0.12 of a goal was the deciding factor, leaving us in third place.

To have put themselves in the position where they were so close to the Nationals is an incredible achievement. We were so close! But the girls are young and they will have another opportunity in two years’ time. This team has a very exciting future ahead and we are very proud of all their have achieved so far.

U14 VII: Ronnie (captain), Imogen, Mina, Sophie, Freya, Willow, Grace, Lucy and Rianna.