Oakham Tournament

Oakham Tournament U12A team

Group round robin

V Beeston Hall     6-5 win
V Edge Grove       7-0 win
V Witham Hall     5-4 win

Semi final

V Old Buckenham Hall   7-2 win

Final

V St John`s College    2-4 lost

A fabulous days netball from the girls who were clearly suffering from nerves almost as badly as me! The first match was closer than expected and we went into the 2nd half 2-4 down so the girls pulled out all the stops and dominated play in the next 6 minutes to clinch victory. With no Emily, Phoebe stepped into play GD for the day and got some excellent tips on the ball, disrupting play as much as possible.

The match against Edge Grove was a rather poor game until the half time 'motivational chat`…..Georgina and Fleur decided to start getting a few goals and we bagged 6 in the 2nd half. Milly and Georgia kept the ball firmly in our attacking end setting us up for a dramatic deciding match against Witham Hall.

Witham dominated the game and looked sure to win but the girls dug deep and began to show their fighting spirit and clinched the game in the last minute aided by a missed shot by the Witham GS.

The semi final was a chance for the girls to demonstrate their true ability and they romped to an easy victory but then nerves set in and self doubt reared its head and the final was approached with trepidation.

St John`s took an early lead and quickly added to it and were 4-0 up at half time. Our shooters were clearly struggling with nerves and the ball skimmed the ring so often. Passing became sloppy in desperation and possession was lost far too often. The 2nd half saw the girls play their socks off and they fought for every single ball, drawing gasps of admiration and fear from the spectators. However 6 minutes flew by and despite scoring just after the whistle blew the dream of retaining the cup had slipped away. They were beaten by a better team in the final of a very strong field and all played very well and without a key team member being there. They should be very proud of themselves but also hungry for Friday and the IAPS……