Manor Prep Victory at U10 St Hugh’s Netball

13 Dec 2013

The Manor recently took part in the  St Hugh’s Annual U10 Netball Tournament.

There were separate A and B Team competitions, with 6 teams in each of the tournaments. Although the courts were a little slippery, we were blessed with the sunshine and mild autumn temperatures. Both teams played beautifully and it was fantastic that both teams made it to the Finals.

Mrs Forbes took the A Team and Miss (Sarah) Forbes-Smith took the B Team. Please read below two separate reports:

A Team Report

The first game was against St Gabriel’s. The girls discovered straight away, after a couple of falls, that they had to take the speed out of their game to be able to stay safe. With this came hesitation in their passes and a reluctance to move quickly. However, it was the same for both teams and the skill, sharp interceptions from Phoebe M and Lottie J and excellent shooting from Florence, Ines and then Jasmine when she came on at half time finished this game with a 6-0 win.

Our second game was against Headington. The girls were more decisive with their passes in this game with forward and lateral options for the ball on offer to swiftly bring it down the court. Ines ruled the attacking third to ably feed to our shooters. We won this game 7-0.

Our third game was against St Hugh’s and this was our toughest game yet. The quick movement of the St Hugh’s team made our girls work hard for their turnovers. A great defensive partnership between Annabelle, Phoebe M and Lottie J limited the St Hugh’s opportunity to put their shots up. Our shootings were just brilliant in putting away so many successful shots and this game finished on a 10-3 win.

Our fourth game was against High March which was even tougher than St Hugh’s! The ball was swinging back and fourth from our attacking half, to the opponents attacking half. At half time, the score was 2-1 to The Manor. A very close game that could have gone either way in the second half. Luckily, our girls dug deep and nailed the second half to finish the game with a 6-2 win.

Our final round robin game was against Swanbourne House. Our girls had a messy first half, having dropped our standards with poor passing and dropped balls. These errors meant we missed opportunities too and at half time the score was 2-2 (panic!). The girls corrected their passing and catching errors to move the ball beautifully down the court to our shooters in the second half but we then missed shot after shot. However, there were also some really good accurate shots which were ably fed to our shooters from the circle edge due the dynamic duo of Anna and Alice. We won this game 6-2.

Having won all our games, this qualified us for the Final which was against our toughest opposition, High March. Our girls got off to a storming start with a 7-0 lead at half time. Although we only managed to score one further goal at the end of the game, from the start of the game until the end, our defensive game allowed shut down the opponents attacking game and allowing no goals. This game finished with an 8-0 win and Champions of the Tournament!

Player of the Match goes to Florence M at GA for her outstanding shooting ability and the amount of turnovers she achieved in her attacking third to send the ball straight back into our shooting circle, creating opportunity after opportunity to shoot for herself and for her GS.

The Squad:

Ines B

Florence M

Alice H

Anna W

Lottie J

Phoebe M

Annabelle V

Jasmine S

Well done, girls!  Another fantastic performance!

Mrs Forbes

The Manor U10 B team had a fantastic day at the St Hugh’s tournament last Thursday. After trekking to the lower courts, we had our first and toughest game of the rounds, St Hugh’s B team. The girls played well, especially in the second half, but were defeated 2-4. However, after the initial knock back the girls certainly did not drop their heads. They went on to win the next game, thanks to some brilliant mid-court play from Sarah and Zoe and finished beautifully by Esme’s shooting. Straight on to the next game without a break, which was a stormer for the defence as Ella and Georgina did not let the opposition score once! The end score for this game was 0-0, but with the girls still in contention for the final, some position swaps were in order. Zoe, a mid-court/defender can now add shooter to her many talents, as she went on at GA, and Esme went to C. With a mixed up team of girls and a lot of determination, the next game saw us win 3-1. Straight on again to our final game, Esme back to GA, Zoe now at GS and Rose and Flora swapping at C. The defence kept up the strong performance and the attack was exceptional. Esme and Zoe worked beautifully in the circle, with rotations and dynamic play that resulted in a massive 6-0 win! After all our games it was uncertain if the girls would make the final, but due to a huge goal difference they (very deservedly) were! So we trekked back to the upper courts to face St Hugh’s in a nail-biting final. Every member of the team played brilliantly; Georgina intercepting high balls; Chelsea, Rose and Ella picking up all the stray passes; Sarah and Flora working fantastically down the court; and the previous performance by the shooters carried on. Zoe played fantastically as an active GS, leaving Esme perfect space to put some shots up. Esme’s shooting in the final was phenomenal, and despite our defeat to St Hugh’s earlier, at the end of the final we were drawing. The A team final had finished so the Manor U10 A team stood with the ever growing crowd of parents, teachers (and a head teacher) and other netballers to watch the golden goal. This means that the Manor B final would be continued, until the next goal was scored. St Hugh’s unfortunately won the toss and got the next centre pass which, despite valiant efforts from the Manor defenders, they converted into a goal.

A massive well done is in order for the runner ups, the Manor Bs! They were lively and spirited all day, giving their very best netball performance. Player of the tournament went to Zoe for a strong and steady performance at centre, and then a fantastic transformation into an accurate and dynamic shooter, well done! Also a special mention to Esme, who had a spectacular performance in the final!

The Squad:

Rose C

Zoe H

Esme P

Georgina H

Ella F-C

Sarah H

Chelsea D-C

Flora F

Brilliant, girls!  Well done!

Miss Forbes-Smith (Sarah)