Bancroft girls book a place in the national finals

Bancroft School’s under-19 netballers have made it through to the prestigious finals of the National Schools’ netball tournament.

They booked their place at Southampton on March 19 after finishing as runners-up in the regional finals held in Rainham against teams from Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey.

Of seven matches the Woodford Green girls won six, never conceding more than nine goals in a game until the final where they were defeated 12-9 by a strong Barking Abbey side.

They had held a narrow lead at the end of the first half, but they were unable to hold out for the win. However, team coach Pam Telford believes they can get the better against Barking Abbey in the finals.

“There will be a lot of very strong teams in Southampton, especially from the large sixth form colleges, where they have over 1,000 students from which to select the team,” she said.

“The girls work 100 per cent for each other, their teamwork is superb and there are no stars.”

This team won the Nationals in 2007 as under-14s and were bronze medallists as under-16s two years later.

In a busy week for the girls they also took part in an invitation-only Canterbury tournament at Kings School and came away victorious.

They won all their five games in the qualifying round before beating the hosts in the final.