Last weekend, (19/20th March 2022) saw the U18 West Midlands girls team travel to Bolton for the Division 2 competition. On Saturday, they started the event with a confident 20-4 win over the East Midlands. They then took on the East Region. The girls made a strong start to the game and were 12-5 up at half time. The game ended in another confident win 19-12. The final game of the day was against a strong Scottish team who had also won their first two games. The game was a very tight affair which ended 11:11. This meant Scotland and the West Midlands girls would be going into the matches on Sunday with equal points.
First, Scotland took on East Angels and suffered a narrow defeat. The girls knew that they needed a win or draw against Ireland to become champions. The game was very close in the 1st quarter and at the end of the second quarter the West Midlands had edged into the lead with goals from Emily, Bella and Charlotte. The third quarter saw the advantage swing back to Ireland. The final quarter saw the girls go behind by three goals and the championship looked like it was getting away from them. A goal from Amelie and two from Emily saw them back to all square. Then Ireland scored with a minute left. The West Midlands called a time out with thirty seconds left on the clock before Charlotte scored in the closing seconds. The final score of 10:10 was enough to see them crowned division 2 winners.
Congratulations to Amélie Perkins for being the top goal scorer in the division and Charlotte Turpin as the West Midlands MVP.
A huge thank you to the coaches Jen Braddock and Mark Ibbs who have worked very hard to create a team who really did the region proud!
Back Row: Holly Clark, Alissa Jamieson, Lily Sharaf, Hannah Braddock, Annie Garrett and Niamh Barguss
Front Row: Amelie Perkins, Charlotte Turpin, Isabella Ibbs, Isabella Balzaretti, Emily Hewston, Zoe Bloss and Izzy Outram.