On Wednesday 12th October, Oundle School hosted the U18 County netball tournament which saw Oundle’s own U18 team take the title going on to the Regionals in the New Year.
In their first game, Oundle came up against Pitsford and despite limited training showed excellent team work from the outset. Lily Craven (16) and Dora Nicolle (17) displayed great strength and communication in the D. Each half was just twelve minutes leaving little room for mistakes. Oundle started strongly with a 32-5 win.
The next game was against Brooke Weston immediately after Pitsford, allowing the team to carry forward the winning momentum. Minna Dundas (16) and Lucy Stock (16) did well to step up quickly after coming on at half time and Lili Ismail (17) and Emily Middleton (17) adjusted to positions which they were not accustomed to playing extremely effectively. The game against Brooke Weston ended in a pleasing win of 28-14.
Captain Izzy Myers (17) commented, “Next we were up against Wellingborough, who we knew would be the most testing opposition. With the score being almost even at half time, the defence showed their strength with Charlotte Fray (16) and Lucy Varley (18) working with tenacity slowing down the pace of the opposition’s ball. Oundle’s attack also displayed consistency and accuracy with Ruby Goodall (17) working especially hard at centre.”
Hard work played off with a 20-17 win against Wellingborough. After a break the girls played their final match against Northampton School for Girls.
Izzy concluded, “The team were quite tired but we managed to keep the intensity up throughout the final game and once again both attack and defence showed their consistency on the court.”
The final game finished with a score of 18-5 to Oundle.
Head of Netball, Bev Burnham commented, “The win at this tournament is very encouraging for the season ahead and bodes well for the Regional Tournament next term. A special mention goes to Charlotte Fray (16) who received player of the tournament for her brilliant work in defence and her interceptions.”