The U12A netball team from St Swithun’s School, Winchester recently played in the quarter-finals of the National Schools Magazine Cup and beat Beaconsfield High School to reach the semi-finals.
Despite losing one of their key players to injury early in the game, the team worked very hard and were drawing 2-2 at the end of the first quarter before edging ahead to 5-4 by half-time. After a long hard-fought match they ran out clear victors, winning 16-8 to put them in the semi-final.
Over 100 schools participate in the National Schools Magazine Cup and St Swithun’s had previously beaten Stoodley Knowle in Torquay and Rougemont School in Wales in the third and fourth rounds of the competition. They will now face Godolphin and Latymer School, London in the semi-final which will be played before the end of February.
Coach Miss Emily Harris said “The U12A netball team have improved with each round of the competition. They have learnt more about the game of netball with the opposition becoming stronger at each stage. The quarter-final tested the team’s resilience and determination to succeed. The game was a close and nervy affair as it clearly meant a lot to both teams. Hopefully they have taken some valuable lessons from the match that they can continue to develop in the coming weeks leading up to the semi-final.”
The team includes Robyn Manser, Lucy McMillan, Maddie Alexander, Alex Witter, Florence Goodhand, Bryony Renwick, Jemima Kennett, Lilla Hardman and Serena O’Bryan-Tear.