NETBALL

U19 South Suffolk tournament Although we are currently in the hockey term, the South Suffolk round of the National Schools’ Netball Cup is played during October. The U19 team travelled to Rushmere to face strong teams each with their own County, Regional or Maverick Futures players, so it was going to be a tough afternoon. And they were excited by the prospect. The team played 7 games of 14 minutes each, with no breaks: in itself a challenge. First Farlingaye: 13 – 3; next Northgate: 7 – 1. So far so very good… Unfortunately Ipswich High were made of sterner stuff, but defeat was by a close enough margin to earn a losers’ point. Next came an Ipswich School double-header: against the B team an easy 8 – 1, marred only by an injury to Joanne. Against the A team… and it went to the wire… the final minute … 7-7… our shot, our goal! 8-7… Their shot… their miss – our victory! With tired legs from giving everything in the Ipswich game, we faced RHS, who we knew were extremely strong and would probably win the tournament, so we stepped off the gas slightly in preparation for our final deciding game against St Joseph’s. Victory would earn a place at the County round in November, so there was all to play for. And we were winning 6-5 until the last 10 seconds of the game, only for St Joseph’s to tie things up. The final whistle went and with it qualification by just that one lost point. The girls’ determination and tenacity cannot be faulted: they played brilliantly on little practice, owing to their hockey commitments, and were desperately unlucky not to gain 3rd place. They should be extremely proud of their performance on the day. Well done! Team: Chloe (Captain), Georgia, Mollie, Maddie, Jemima, Katy G, Lily, Katie B & Joanne.