Hurst 1st VII win 8 out of 9 matches at first round
of the National Schools Netball Tournament

Hurst entered the U19 National Schools Tournament at Roedean, which took the form of a round robin contest with 9 games of 14 minutes' duration for each of the competing teams.  Despite the cold and windy conditions on the coast, the girls were focused on the task ahead and clear about the strategies they would employ as they attempted to win all 9 games. The first two games were against Burgess Hill School and St Leonard's, Mayfield.  The girls stamped their mark on the tournament early on, winning convincingly with scores of 15-3 and 8-1 respectively.

Next up were the Imberhorne team, whom Hurst consider to be among their strongest rivals. Both sides struggled in the windy conditions which kept the score down to a narrow 3-2 lead for Imberhorne at half time.  The Hurst defence soaked up enormous pressure in the second half and with just 15 seconds left to play, Hurst were awarded a penalty shot, taken by Lauren Judd, to win by one goal. 

Buzzing with confidence from this victory, the girls next took on Brighton College, and won 8-2. This was followed by a tough match against the taller and more strongly built Roedean team. It was well contested and despite a nasty ankle injury to the Hurst Goal Defence, Ellie Sleep, the girls did their best to maintain concentration, continuing with Grace Couchman stepping up to the GD position. Although beaten 7-3, Hurst were still in the running as Roedean had not won all their matches either.

Ardingly College were the opponents in game number six. The girls were determined not to be beaten again and started to settle without Ellie, who had been taken to the local A&E department. They played really well and were rewarded with another good win 16-5. Despite the girls' legs starting to tire, they kept going against Sackville and took the win 8-3.

A very welcome 20 minutes' rest time, spent in the comparative warmth of the Hurst minibus, allowed the coach and the girls a team strategy talk before the last two big games against Worthing and St Bede's, both very good sides. Hurst's Head of Netball, Rebecca Jutson reckons that in these two games the girls played the best netball she has ever seen at Hurst and adapted their play well to take into account the ever-worsening windy conditions. They won each game by a margin of 2 goals.

All matches completed, the results were compiled and announced: Roedean and Hurst are both through to the next round which will take place in January 2011. The girls were, as ever, a credit to the College and other schools congratulated them on their success and complimented them for their behaviour and exceptional play. 

To read more about Netball at Hurst Senior School, please click here