Heath Mount win Haileybury's U10 netball tournament

Congratulations to the Under 10 netball team from Heath Mount, who won yesterday’s Haileybury Under 10 Prep Schools Netball tournament. They beat Norwich’s Taverham Hall 5-4 in a nail-biting final.

Ten schools were entered in the tournament: Duncombe, Widford Lodge, The Grove, Heathmount, Rickmansworth PNEU, St Joseph’s in The Park, Palmer’s Green High, Stormont, Ralph Sadleir and Taverham Hall. The tournament was arranged in two sections of five teams.

The standard of netball played by all the teams was very high and all matches in the sections were far closer and more competitive than in past years.

The top two teams from each section went on to play in the semi finals.

Taverham Hall played Widford Lodge in an exceptionally tight match which was won on the whistle by Tavenham Hall 6-5.

The other semi was played between Ralph Sadleir and Heath Mount. The tension in this match was tremendous, with nothing separating the teams. At the final whistle, the score was even and therefore extra time was played. At the end of this, the match was still even, with a score line of 3-3. It was therefore down to sudden death and the pressure on the girls was immense. After several missed shots and unforced errors on both sides, Heath Mount eventually scored to win 4-3.

The final was therefore between Heath Mount and Taverham Hall. Again, it was a very evenly balanced match with nothing to choose between the teams. A great display of flowing netball from both teams finished off with some excellent shooting. There was never more than a single goal separating the teams but when the final whistle went, it was Heath Mount who found themselves up by a single goal, winning 5-4.

It should be noted how evenly matched all four teams were who played in the semi finals as any of them were clearly good enough to be the eventual winners. On the day, however, it was Heath Mount who played together most effectively as a team and were the most consistent throughout. Taverhall Hall should be commended for their standard of netball considering they only have eight girls in the year from whom to choose.

Section A results: 1st Taverham Hall 16pts, 2nd Ralph Sadleir 14 points, 3rd Palmer’s Green High 11 points, 4th St Joseph’s in The Park 10 points & 5th Stormont 7 points.

Section B Results: 1st Heath Mount 20 points, 2nd Widford Lodge 15 points, 3rd Duncombe 11 points, 4th The Grove 5 points & 5th Rickmansworth PNEU 1 point.

Special mention should go to Pippa Ritchie from Widford Lodge who was awarded Player of the Tournament.

Well done to all the players!