Warriors travelled to Essex for the prestigious U16 National Clubs finals at the weekend, where they would compete against the top 17 teams in the country after all facing gruelling county and regional rounds to reach this stage.

The team had four matches to play on the Saturday to decide what placings they would be playing off for on the Sunday. The team got off to the perfect start playing some excellent netball to win four out of four matches beating Oaksway 27-10, Crystal Palace 36-15, Hatfield 39-14 and Bury 37-31. This meant Warriors were playing off for top 6 placings in the country on the Sunday.

Their first match was against a strong Eagles side. In the early stages the match went goal for goal until Warriors defence stepped up to intercept the ball. At half time Warriors had the lead however the nerves took hold and Eagles capitalised on their mistakes to edge ahead. Despite a huge push to win the final quarter it wasn’t enough Eagles held their nerve to take the win 28-24. Warriors took the lessons learnt from the early match and showed their resilience to come back and beat Hucclecote 29-23 to secure a place in the 3rd / 4th placed playoff and a bronze medal to play for against Leeds Athletic.

Warriors went out composed and full of confidence taking a slim early lead. They maintained their performance and composure for the full match keeping continuous pressure on the Leeds attack and remaining clinical in their shooting circle. Despite a Leeds fightback in the fourth quarter Warriors took the win 27-20 to finish 3rd in the Country and win the bronze medal. An amazing result for an East Midlands team, with the club now retaining 3rd place at U16 Nationals for the second year running.

Squad: Ellie Gallacher, Evie Mallon, Amy Braithwaite, Milly McManus, Millie Van Nierop, Georgie Brock-Taylor, Ella Bacon, Jesse Jardine, Corey McGlynn, Romilly Das, Bethan Lount, Hannah Hicks