On Saturday 28th February, the U16 Oundle School netball team triumphed at the Regional School’s Netball tournament, hosted at Oundle.
Captain, Hannah Wakeford (16) commented, “We played nine matches in total with the first against Spalding. The matches were only seven minutes each way, this meant our quality of play had to be high from the very beginning of the match, as one turnover could result in losing a game. We started on great form and finished the match with a satisfying start of 9-2 to Oundle.”
After a very short break the Oundle girls were back on to play West Bridgford. Due to accurate passing in the centre third from Ella Johnsrud (16), they secured another victory with a finishing score of 13-3. The next match against Queen Elizabeth was a tough game. Oundle’s standard of play dropped drastically and they began to make a few mistakes with footwork and careless passing. It was a very tight match and was recovered only by their ability to intercept the ball and Stella Simpson’s (16) excellent defending and reading of play. The game finished a very close 9-7 win to Oundle.
Oundle stepped up their game in the next match against Nottingham High, with excellent shooting from Phoebe Ashby (15) and Honor Starling (15) resulting in a 10-4 victory to Oundle.
Hannah added, “Oakham were our next opponents and we were a little nervous as they are a strong side. However, we played fluently and kept the ball out of their attacking third resulting in a 10-2 victory to us. Over half way there and without conceding a match, the tension and prospect of making the Nationals was growing. However, with the finish line in sight, we were also beginning to tire.”
After another quick warm up, the girls headed on court to play Ecclesborne. Their play remained of great quality and they won 11-2. Their seventh match was against Loughborough where they read the play well and turned over the ball multiple times. This gave them the opportunity to score goals which led to another successful win 11-4 to Oundle.
To qualify for the Nationals teams must finish in the top two places. Being unbeaten so far, the Oundle girls only had to win one more match to secure a place. Fully aware of this, they began their penultimate match against Ockbrook rather nervously rushing play and throwing away the ball. In the second half they managed to regain composure and gain possession more resulting in a final 14-6 victory.
Hannah commented, “Overjoyed we celebrated in the knowledge that we would be attending the Nationals in March whatever the outcome of our final match, which was to be against Quinton Hall, our biggest opponents at the competition who had likewise had an unbeaten day. It was already set that both teams would be going through to Nationals but the team to be crowned Regional champions remained undecided. We had previously beaten Quinton at the County rounds and become County champions but the match had been extremely close.”
Despite the lack of rest, the Oundle girls rose to the occasion and fought hard for another win. From the start of the game neither side seemed able to turn over the ball and gain the advantage. However, in the second half Oundle pushed hard for interceptions and rebounds which ensured them a win of 9-6. This meant they had attained the honour of Regional champions.
Hannah concluded, “Our ability to work as a unit, value the ball and our determination enabled us to be crowned Regional Champions. We will continue to improve as the Nationals approach.”
Head of Girls’ Netball, Bev Burnham commented, “This was a super performance throughout the tournament by a spirited team. Having represented the East Midlands at the National finals as an U14 team last year, I am hoping they will draw on that experience to achieve a top result.”
On the same day the 1st team came 3rd and the U14 team came 6th in their respective tournaments.