Under 9A PGS Netball Festival
Overall 7th Placing out of 18 schools
Lady of the match: Isobel K
Player’s Player: Yssy G
The U9A team put in a fantastic performance at the annual PGS Netball Festival. This has become a huge tournament, with a total of 18 schools taking part, giving the girls a whopping 7 matches to play in their pool.
v Cranleigh Prep (Won 3-2)
A fantastic game, the girls fought well from the start. Yssy shot really calmly under pressure and gave us an early lead. While Isobel K and Claudia defended with confidence and success to turn over possession. A win here was a really positive start to the tournament.
v Westbourne House A (Lost 1-3)
Unfortunately this was a tough match for us. The girls rallied well and had some fantastic chances, however, they couldn’t quite find the net despite some valiant attempts. The centre-court play here from Milly, Florence and Claudia was wonderful; great strong shoulder passes and lovely dodging to find space.
v Westbourne House B (Won 8-1)
This was a great match giving the girls the chance to really find their feet. Wonderful shooting from Yssy and superb feeds into the circle from Milly, giving us an early lead. Defensively, we had little to do, nonetheless the girls remained focused and ready to leap into action.
v St. Hilary’s (Lost 2-0)
A really even match from the start. The ball travelled from end to end with some fantastic interceptions made from Isobel K and Chloe. While St. Hilary’s also fought back with some equally gutsy marking and well-timed interceptions. Unfortunately St. Hilary’s were able to score 2 great goals in the dying minutes to give them a 2-0 lead. An unlucky loss here girls, you fought incredibly well and retained the pressure throughout.
v St. Swithun’s (Drew 1-1)
This was a superb match showing Amesbury at their best. St.Swithun’s had won all of their pooled matches making them favourites for the tournament. However, we put in a fantastic performance displaying grit, determination and passion throughout. Emily and Yssy worked superbly together, dodging well in the circle and finding space confidently. The score sat at 1-1 and really could have gone either way. Despite one final chance from Amesbury, the score finished as a 1-1 draw and St. Swithun’s had lost their winning streak.
v St. Ives (Won 2-0)
A really strong performance here from the A team. Claudia worked her socks off at WD, fighting for every ball and leaping to make some wonderful interceptions. We even saw some incredible ‘tipping’ of the ball from Isobel and Claudia to knock the ball out of play. Emily C found her feet this match and worked superbly to lose her opponent, she also scored 2 amazing goals to give us a well deserved win against St. Ives.
v Oakwood (Won 5-1)
Another wonderful performance from the whole team. The girls worked cohesively together, linking the ball fluidly down the court dominating play from the outset. We saw wonderful ‘roll’ dodges from the centre court players, while our defence also worked with strength to block off access to the defensive third. Yssy and Emily shot with confidence to give us a fantastic 5-1 win.
The girls were exhausted by this point, but had done incredibly well to finish joint third in their pool. Despite their tired legs and the chilly weather, the girls now had one more match against a school from the other pool to determine their overall placing. This saw us up against Prince’s Mead.
v Prince’s Mead
The girls managed to dig deep to find enough energy and strength for one final match and wow, they delivered! The girls dominated from the outset with some wonderful fluid play. The ball travelled swiftly to our attacking third, with our shooters smoothly shooting to give us an early lead. This dominance continued throughout the game with the whole team demonstrating great footwork, strong passes and skilful dodges into space. A fantastic 5-1 win here was a great way to finish the tournament.
Overall the girls finished in a very respectable 7the place out of 18 schools. Interestingly St. Swithun’s (whom we drew 1-1 against) finished in second place in the tournament, which goes to show how tightly fought these big tournaments can be. A huge congratulations to the whole team, who have gone from strength to strength this season fighting to improve their performance with each game. We are extremely proud of all of you. A special mention must go to Claudia who only started playing netball in September and who played superbly, improving with each match.
Mrs Dover
