KWP WIN
U11 NETBALL CUP NATIONAL FINALS

Kingsway Power cruised to victory in the U11 Netball Cup National Finals after defeating Starz NC in the final. After coming fourth in last season's nationals as a U10 team, they came into this competition as hot favourites and did not falter all day en route to becoming the No.1 team in the country.

Group A

This group was the official group of death of the competition and was kicked off with a fantastic game between Wodson Park and Sutton Town. Wodson Park were highly fancied to do well after winning the Eastern Finals and they narrowly secured a 7-6 win against Sutton Town. Saddleworth secured their first win also against Wilmslow Lightning by the same scoreline. Shan NC got their competition underway with a win over Wilmslow Lightning and Wodson was stopped in their tracks against Saddleworth NC in their second game of the event, meaning Saddleworth went top of the group. Sutton Town continued to struggle and lost their first three games, which was surprising considering half of their team won the U12 YNPL Southern Conference this season. Wodson like Sutton Town couldn't find any consistency and limped into the knock-outs with a draw against Wilmslow to secure third place in the group. Sutton Town managed to get one win in their final game which secured them a fourth-place spot and qualification into the knock-outs, and the final game was a top-of-table clash between Shan and Saddleworth which was won 8-5 by Shan.

Results

Wodson Park (7) Vs Sutton Town (6)

Saddleworth (7) Vs Wilmslow Lightning (6)

Wilmslow Lightning (1) Vs Shan NC (6)

Saddleworth NC (5) Vs Wodson Park (4)

Sutton Town (4) Vs Saddleworth NC (6)

Shan NC (9) Vs Wodson Park (4)

Wodson Park (3) Vs Wilmslow Lightning (3)

Shan NC (7) Vs Sutton Town (5)

Saddleworth NC (5) Vs Shan NC (8)

Wilmslow Lightning (0) Vs Sutton Town (19)

Group B

This group contained competition favourites Kingsway Power and they got their competition underway with a convincing 15-3 win against a very young and talented Little Sutton side. Poole NC and Starz NC played out a 7-7 draw in their first game and Aces NC won 4-3 against Little Sutton in theirs. Starz managed to get a win in their second game against Aces NC which opened up the group for an unpredictable outcome, especially after Aces NC drew with Poole NC 6-6 in their third game of the event. Starz came unstuck against Kingsway Power in their third game but bounced back to secure a runner-up position in the group. Poole like Starz was convincingly beaten by Kingsway Power, but in their final game, they recorded another draw, which meant they came third. Aces NC lost their final game heavily which meant they came fourth due to their goal difference.

Results

Starz NC (7) Vs Poole NC (7)

Aces NC (4) Vs Little Sutton (3)

Little Sutton (3) Vs Kingsway Power (15)

Aces NC (6) Vs Starz NC (9)

Poole NC (6) Vs Aces NC (6)

Kingsway Power (10) Vs Starz NC (2)

Starz NC (11) Vs Little Sutton (9)

Kingsway Power (9) Vs Poole NC (1)

Aces NC (1) Vs Kingsway Power (12)

Little Sutton (6) Vs Poole NC (6)

Group C

Another superb group was gripping the final games. Rivington got their competition off to a flying start, defeating Midlands Champions Ellesmere Port 8-1. Turnford also started well, defeating Leeds Athletic 4-1. Leeds Athletic bounced back from their loss to Turnford with a 9-2 victory against AP Saints, along with Ellesmere Port who won against Turnford to leave the group well-balanced after the halfway mark. After their great start, Rivington got brought back down to earth with a loss to Turnford and Ellesmere Port continued to gain momentum winning against AP Saints, who were struggling at this point in the competition. The next set of games would see another swing of fortunes for all teams. Ellesmere Port drew with Leeds Athletic which cost them the top spot in the group, Rivington won against AP Saints and Leeds to secure the top spot and AP Saints managed to creep into the quarter-final play-offs with a surprising win against Turnford in their final game.

Results

Ellesmere Port (1) Vs Rivington NC (8)

Turnford NC (4) Vs Leeds Athletic (1)

Leeds Athletic (9) Vs AP Saints (2)

Turnford NC (5) Vs Ellesmere Port (7)

Rivington NC (4) Vs Turnford NC (5)

AP Saints (5) Vs Ellesmere Port (9)

Ellesmere Port (6) Vs AP Saints (6)

AP Saints (0) Vs Rivington NC (3)

Turnford NC (4) Vs AP Saints (5)

Leeds Athletic (4) Vs Rivington NC (9)

9th-14th Play-Off

Wilmslow Lightning (5) Vs Little Sutton (9)

QF Play-Offs

There were solid wins for Saddleworth, Starz NC Wodson Park and Leeds Athletic to secure safe passage into the quarter-finals for each of these sides. We had a repeat of the Midlands Final with Ellesmere Port taking on Sutton Town and Sutton carried on from their huge win in the group previously to enact revenge on Ellesmere Port winning 12-8 in what was the stand-out game of this round.

Results

Saddleworth NC (8) Vs AP Saints (2)

Ellesmere Port (8) Vs Sutton Town (12)

Starz NC (11) Vs Aces NC (3)

Turnford NC (2) Vs Leeds Athletic (8)

Wodson Park (12) Vs Poole NC (6)

Quarter Finals

In this section of the competition, the top-of-the-table teams from the groups fell like flies apart from Kingsway Power who cruised into the semi-finals after a superb win against Wodson Park. The teams to falter were Rivington who lost to Starz NC and Shan NC who lost to Leeds Athletic. Saddleworth who had won against Sutton Town in the groups lost to them 10-4.

Results

Rivington NC (10) Vs Starz NC (13)

Shan NC (4) Vs Leeds Athletic (8)

Kingsway Power (12) Vs Wodson Park (3)

Saddleworth NC (4) Vs Sutton Town (10)

9th-14th Play-Off

Results

AP Saints (6) Vs Little Sutton (7) - 13th/14th

Ellesmere Port (8) Vs Aces NC (5) - 11th/12th

Poole NC (6) Vs Turnford (7) - 9th-10th

5th-8th Play-Off

Results

Wodson Park (7) Vs Saddleworth (6)

Rivington NC (7) Vs Shan NC (8)

Semi-Final

After such a relentless event so far, Kingsway Power was up against Sutton Town who had found the form we expected of them but didn't show it until the final game of the groups. We all expected another convincing win for Kingsway Power but Sutton Town using all their experience playing up a year in our league this season put the pressure on the Northern powerhouse with their tall shooter causing the defence problems. The second half saw Kingsway Power pull away but Sutton Town turned over enough of the ball to potentially go ahead and let Kingsway off the hook. In the other semi-final, Starz once again caused a shock, this time against Leeds Athletic to become the first Southern team ever to reach the final of this event.

Results

Starz NC (10) Vs Leeds Athletic (7)

Kingsway Power (10) Vs Sutton Town (6)

5th-8th Play-Offs

Results

Wodson Park (3) Vs Shan NC (9) - 5th-6th

Rivington NC (5) Vs Saddleworth (2) - 7th-8th

3rd-4th Play-Off

Sutton Town (8) Vs Leeds Athletic (4)

Final

Quite uneventful final saw Kingsway Power dominate this from start to finish. To get to the final was a great achievement for Starz NC who had to come through some tough fixtures to reach this point. Not the result they wanted but they will be back next season pushing to go that one better next time. As for Kingsway Power, they showed the country what the level teams need to reach to potentially win these national competitions in the future.

Result

Kingsway Power (7) Vs Starz NC (1)

Awards

1st: Kingsway Power

2nd: Starz NC

3rd: Sutton Town

4th: Leeds Athletic

Most Valuable Player

Petra Critchley- Kingsway Power

All Stars

Lola Widig (Wodson Park)

Rose McKeon (Rivington)