It was an impressive performance by our u11 girls on Saturday when we went to the Dreams tournament in Southampton. We were treated to some great netball with goals galore, determined defending and motivated movement.

The 9 squad members: Marta, Caitlin, Izzy, Maddi, Tabitha, Charlotte C, Keira, Temi, Helena were definitely on form. The heat was intense and testing and shade was at a premium but these girls played with heart and commitment all day.

This was demonstrated during the initial group stage when they won all 4 games in convincing style. In fact they didn’t just win, they scored 54 goals and conceded just 2 goals. They were untested in this stage but regardless they remained focussed on the task of playing good netball as opposed to resting on their laurels.

Finishing top of the group in the morning we were re-grouped after lunch for another 4 matches. The prize for finishing top would be a semi final place.

The girls did not disappoint. They continued their domination on court with tenacious defending throughout the court and some great movement and timing of the ball up the court (making Neil and Maria smile!), capitalising on all turnovers with some fantastic shooting.
The results were as follows in the afternoon:

• Against Bournemouth, a 11-0 win
• Spires ice, a 20-0 win
• Shorewell, a 15-0 win
• NRG, a 9-1 win.

Finishing top of the group and going into the semi finals having scored during the day 109 goals and conceding just 3!!!!

The girls had 45 minutes to wait for the semi finals and went off to the shaded play area, big mistake!!! Helena who had played a blinder all day in Defence falls on her elbow and is taken to A&E nightmare! As you can imagine Maria and Neil were not smiling at this point!!

The semi final was against Matrix who we had lost to, and also beaten previously in other tournaments.  This was the first testing match for the girls and with a depleted defence this was going to be a tough one. However the girls knew the prize for winning was a place in the final.

This was end to end, nail biting and pressurised from the starting whistle which led to frantic passing and missed shots by both teams.  However the spirit of these girls was incredible.
They went down several times but dug deep to pull it back to a 5-5 draw at full time.

2 extra minutes and Eagles were fighting. The defending and determination demonstrated by every player was obvious. They wanted to win, they turned over the possession and the shooters managed to contain the tension and score. Eagles were through to the final winning 7-5.

The final was against Turnford. The girls were exhausted. The temperature was 30 degrees with no shade on court. The last encounter against Turnford at Pontins was a 9-1 loss.

All these factors should have affected the Eagles girls but it didn’t. They were on court to win the match and they played hard, with grit and determination throughout. Numerous interceptions by both teams, and consistent shooting despite the intense pressure made this either teams game and both fought to the final whistle.

Turnford just had the edge on the Eagles girls winning by just 3 goals, 11-8.
What a difference to their previous encounter…..what a performance.

Parents (pretty in pink!!) and coaches extremely proud, what a team, what a day. Get better soon Helena!!!