Farleigh's annual U13 netball tournament took place on Wednesday 7th February. It was fantastic to have such a large entry, with 8 teams in the A draw and 7 teams in the B draw. As well as our regular competitors, Cheam, Dauntsey’s, Eagle House, Edgeborough, Lambrook, Thorngrove and Twyford, it was great to host Dragon and South Wilts Grammar School (SWGS) for the first time. 

The standard this year was extremely high, and every game was hotly contested. In the B draw, Farleigh played Lambrook and then Eagle House, who were both strong teams, but the girls fought really hard in their third game to take the win over Twyford, 7-3, and then beat SWGS. Their final game against Dragon was end to end, finishing with a good draw. This placed them 5th in the B competition. Special mention to Esme and Eliana who both defended extremely well all afternoon. Lambrook and Cheam went into their final undefeated, so it was always going to be a competitive match to decide the B section winners; congratulations to Lambrook who came out on top.

In the A draw, it was incredibly closely fought in the group stages; Farleigh narrowly beat Lambrook, and Cheam just beat Eagle House. At the end of the group stage, the semi-finals were set with Farleigh v Edgeborough and Cheam v Lambrook. Both were cracking games with excellent shooting on display. Farleigh and Cheam came out on top to set up a highly anticipated final. Earlier in the term, Cheam had beaten Farleigh convincingly, so the girls were determined to change the result this time. Farleigh looked confident in the circle, moving the ball really well and shooting brilliantly. Cheam were always going to fight hard, and they too shot extremely well. Farleigh managed to make a lot of interceptions and score off Cheam's centre pass, putting them ahead. As the final minutes ticked away, Farleigh really upped the intensity to take the match. A wonderful win against an extremely strong Cheam team! Huge congratulations to all the girls involved.

Felicity Smith, Head of Girls' Games