Plymouth College Preparatory School's netball team competed against twenty five schools from as far as Worcester in the north and St Albans in the east in the IAPS West Regional Netball Tournament.
Held at Stonar School, Bath, the Plymouth A team (Natasha Spiers GD, Libby Day WA, Naomi Ryan GS, Freya Soper C GA, Harmony Rump GA C, Freya Lam WD, Lauren Reed GK, Alice Simmonds GS, Lizzy Ham WD GD and Tommy Eyston WD GK) had a good start beating Kings Hall 5-4.
The next match was against St Gabriel's and although the team was getting the ball into the shooting circle, the shots would not go in. The final score was a 1-1 draw. Dean Close was a much tougher match, but the girls raised their game and the shots were on target, seeing them secure a second win with 7-6.
Unfortunately concentration slipped against Stonar and a few wild passes gave the opposition the lead with Plymouth losing 0-2. This set back stuck with the girls for the next game and with the knowledge that Hazelgrove had not dropped a match, Plymouth struggled to gain any advantage. The match was lost 1-8.
Clifton College was also playing well so after a refuel on dried fruit, and with renewed determination, the girls stepped their netball up a gear. It paid off with Plymouth winning 3-1. Bristol Grammar was next but Plymouth was on a roll, executing fabulous interceptions from the defence and winning 4-1.
The early losses put Plymouth in a precarious position and the match against Kings Hawford, Worcester, would decide who went through to the final. It was a tense match with a lot of mistakes but fabulous interceptions from both sides. The final score was 2-2 a draw, which meant Plymouth just missed out on a place in the final and had to settle for 4th in the section and 7th overall in the tournament.
The team was very disappointed not to go through to the national event but 7th in the West of England is a very worthwhile result and stands among the best the school has achieved since Ellie Gates and Megan Thompson were heading the team four years ago.
