While the rest of the school was participating in the school cross country, the U15As were competing against six other teams for the County Cup. The wind was raging, which made the game hard to play (especially for the shooters), but it was still a good quality tournament.
We started by playing Bishop’s Stopford. We dominated in the attack, and Honor Adams (K) was great at limiting play in the circle as a defender. The end of the first game was a convincing 10-1 victory. In the second match against CBA, we were particularly effective in bringing the ball down the court quickly, maximising goals scored in each seven-minute half. Maddie Todd (L) was especially instrumental in this, and we won with a phenomenal goal difference of 19-2.
We were playing the 1st team from Sponne when disaster struck with an injury, diminishing our already depleted numbers. Clara Wakeford (Sn) stepped in and played a great game and we finished with a convincing 9-1 victory. Sponne 2nd was definitely our hardest game, as they had strong shooters, and the wind made the pace of the game slow and sloppy with plenty of room for errors. Tilly Ashby (L) was shooting remarkably well, considering how the gusts disrupted play. However, it still wasn’t a loss, but a 6-6 tie.
Our game against Wellingborough was fiercely fought, but we slowly but steadily pulled ahead, and ended up dominating possession and getting lots of turnovers. It was another Oundle victory, 7-3.
Our final match against Northampton High School was the toughest, with plenty of turnovers and dynamic movement. However, constant defensive pressure, forward drives by centre court and excellent circle balancing resulted in an Oundle 8-4 victory.
Undefeated, the Oundle team were named tournament winners and county champions.
Noa Anderson (Sn)