Oldham U14’s got the season off to a great start with victory at the Nottingham Junior netball tournament. Unlike other tournaments , Nottingham is a round robin competition with the highest placed team taking the honours.
Oldham had a couple of players missing on day one and looked out of sorts but managed to do enough over six games to qualify for the top seeded group. The day started with a hard fought win over Trafford followed with a defeat to Essex. Oldham struggled to play their usual game and could only manage a draw against Ribble Valley. It seemed Oldham had turned a corner with successive wins over Oaksway and Birmingham but then slipped up against Poole in the last game of the day losing 3 – 2. Despite the poor results Oldham had managed to hang on to 3rd place in the group and could look forward to putting things right on day 2.
Oldham had spent time reflecting on what had gone wrong on day 1 and the players were more upbeat and confident on day 2. With missing players now back with the squad Oldham wanted to show the competition there would be no repeat of yesterday’s sloppy play. An opening game against Essex gave Oldham the ideal opportunity to do just that and they did not disappoint with a great 13 – 3 win. Next in line came Poole another team that had beaten Oldham on day 1, Oldham were now playing the way they can and made no mistakes to finish the game off with an 8 – 4 win.
Successive wins against Trafford 10 – 4 and Bury 8 – 3 led Oldham to a four way tie for the top spot. In contention for the trophy were Oldham, Parkside, Turnford and Tameside. First up came Parkside a team Oldham had narrowly beaten in a previous final, this time around it was not a close affair as Oldham played some fantastic netball to take the game 7 – 1. As other teams began to take points from one another Oldham new a win against Turnford would guarantee top honours with a game to spare.
Oldham started well quickly moving into a 4 – 1 lead, Turnford fought back and managed to gain a 1 goal lead with the scores now at 6 – 5 Oldham needed to dig in, an excellent turnover from GK Susie Armstrong was all the motivation they needed as they hit 5 goals without reply to take the game 10 – 6. With the pressure off having already secured the top honours Oldham could enjoy the last game of the day against local rivals Tameside. Again Oldham showed their class with an 8 – 4 win that ensured they finished the day unbeaten and smiling again.
Squad: Neve Pollitt, Elly Fitzhugh, Susie Armstrong, Bayley whittaker, Morgan Evans, Jasmine Newell, Olivia Smallwood, Amy Burman, Amelia Hall, Lucy Stevenson, Rachel Fittzsimmons.
Stats: Amelia 62% 33 / 53
Rachel 75% 47 / 62
Lucy 89% 41 / 46
Turnovers: Bayley – 18, Elly -10, Neve / Morgan / Jas -4
Oldham had a couple of players missing on day one and looked out of sorts but managed to do enough over six games to qualify for the top seeded group. The day started with a hard fought win over Trafford followed with a defeat to Essex. Oldham struggled to play their usual game and could only manage a draw against Ribble Valley. It seemed Oldham had turned a corner with successive wins over Oaksway and Birmingham but then slipped up against Poole in the last game of the day losing 3 – 2. Despite the poor results Oldham had managed to hang on to 3rd place in the group and could look forward to putting things right on day 2.
Oldham had spent time reflecting on what had gone wrong on day 1 and the players were more upbeat and confident on day 2. With missing players now back with the squad Oldham wanted to show the competition there would be no repeat of yesterday’s sloppy play. An opening game against Essex gave Oldham the ideal opportunity to do just that and they did not disappoint with a great 13 – 3 win. Next in line came Poole another team that had beaten Oldham on day 1, Oldham were now playing the way they can and made no mistakes to finish the game off with an 8 – 4 win.
Successive wins against Trafford 10 – 4 and Bury 8 – 3 led Oldham to a four way tie for the top spot. In contention for the trophy were Oldham, Parkside, Turnford and Tameside. First up came Parkside a team Oldham had narrowly beaten in a previous final, this time around it was not a close affair as Oldham played some fantastic netball to take the game 7 – 1. As other teams began to take points from one another Oldham new a win against Turnford would guarantee top honours with a game to spare.
Oldham started well quickly moving into a 4 – 1 lead, Turnford fought back and managed to gain a 1 goal lead with the scores now at 6 – 5 Oldham needed to dig in, an excellent turnover from GK Susie Armstrong was all the motivation they needed as they hit 5 goals without reply to take the game 10 – 6. With the pressure off having already secured the top honours Oldham could enjoy the last game of the day against local rivals Tameside. Again Oldham showed their class with an 8 – 4 win that ensured they finished the day unbeaten and smiling again.
Squad: Neve Pollitt, Elly Fitzhugh, Susie Armstrong, Bayley whittaker, Morgan Evans, Jasmine Newell, Olivia Smallwood, Amy Burman, Amelia Hall, Lucy Stevenson, Rachel Fittzsimmons.
Stats: Amelia 62% 33 / 53
Rachel 75% 47 / 62
Lucy 89% 41 / 46
Turnovers: Bayley – 18, Elly -10, Neve / Morgan / Jas -4