Eastern Net Fever Report & Photos
Eastern Net Fever –
The Royal Weekend saw the opening of the
England Netball’s Charity Partner Cancer Research were there to kick the weekend off in style, encouraging all Back to Netball ladies to take part in a Race for Life style warm up. 20 upbeat minutes later with many layers shed, all the ladies had bonded and were no longer nervous about taking part in the day. For most of these Back to Netball ladies it was the first time they have played a proper netball fixture since school let alone a whole day of netball, but that did not seem to affect them, the sun was shining and they were soon bibbed up on court and ready to go.
The Beginners Back to Netball tournament, aimed at ladies who have joined Back to Netball groups over the last 6 months, saw 6 teams from across the region and beyond competing to take the Beginners crown. It was RAB Mums who took an early lead beating Huntingdon 12 -4 in a highly skilled game that was to set the standard for the rest of the day. But it was Rayleigh All Blacks, who won all their games in the rounds and took top spot playing Active Hastings in the first Semi Final eventually winning 5-2. The second Semi Final was a much closer affair with Hampton Blue and Pacers battling it out for a place in the Final, Pacers eventually came out on top winning a much closely fought game 6-5. The final was less of a close affair with Rayleigh All Blacks, wanting to finish the day unbeaten, were deservedly crowned Beginner Back to Netball Champions winning 7-0.
The Established Back to Netball Tournament was more of a close affair with teams battling it out to lead from the start. B2 Netball and Ignite shared a close game, both shooters were on fire in the circle with B2Netball ultimately winning 8-7. Many more exciting games were seen throughout the rounds, but it was the tall team from Haven that were exerting their authority on the court. The first Semi-Final saw Haven, unbeaten from the earlier rounds, face Lyons Ladies in what was a less than close affair winning 17-3. With Haven already in the final the second Semi Final saw Crusers tackle All Stars. In contrast to the previous semi, this one was fought right down to the wire, with excellent netball skills on display, All Stars eventually won 8-7. The Established Final proved to be the game of the day with Haven taking an early lead into half time, but it was the second half where All Stars showed what they were made of and at the final whistle the scores were level 8-8. Extra time saw 2 minutes of highly fought netball with Haven producing the goods when needed and were finally crowned Established Back to Netball champions winning 10-9.
Another gorgeous day and Sunday saw the first East Region FASTNET Tournament. Rolling substitutions, Power Plays and shooting from outside the circle, were just 3 of the rule changes allowed in this new format of the game. The FASTNET tournament lived up to expectation and many close games were fought in the round robin style tournament. The sun was shining but the strong winds prevented many teams really benefiting from being allowed to shoot from outside the circle to score double. Hertford Hornets 1 and Eastwood shared the tightest and toughest game of the day, with neither team really benefitting from their Power Play quarter (where everything is worth double e.g. Goals from inside the circle scoring 2 points and those daring enough to shoot from outside the D worth 4!!) it was Hornets 1 who turned it up a notch in the final quarter winning 12-8.
A break for lunch allowed all the players to head inside out of the wind to watch some of the country’s youngest netball talent take to the court. Newly crowned NTL champions Hertfordshire Mavericks faced local rivals Surrey Storm in a fierce but friendly match. Great starts from both teams saw Mavericks take a one goal lead in quarter time and it looked like it was going to be a close encounter, but Mavericks turned up the gas in the 2nd quarter and really took the game away from Storm, eventually winning 46 – 33.
Kats, Star Onyx and Hornets 2 all shared tightly fought contests throughout the day, but it was Kats N.C that deserve a special mention, playing the game in its truest spirit with constant rolling substitutions confusing the opposition and playing their power play when they were really on top. But it was Hertford Hornets 1 who were unbeaten all day and eventually crowned East Region FASTNET champions. They now go on to represent the East Region at the National FASTNET Finals in November which are to be held in
Overall a fantastic weekend of netball was had by all that competed and massive thanks must go out to all the umpires and volunteers that made the weekend possible. It was a great display of all things that are going on in the East Region and we look forward to Eastern Net Fever becoming an Annual event.
