Luton Dunstable & District Netball League

Luton Summer League Finals

Thursday evening (4 August) saw the two finals of the Luton Summer League at Dallow Primary School.  Thankfully the rain stopped briefly to afford the players a window of summer weather for their games.  The Division 1 final saw group stage winners Seven Up Yellow take on second-placed Jeffers.  The games are scored in quarters, with 2 points awarded for each quarter won, giving the matches a competitive feel.  The two Division 1 teams were on the same goal weighting so every goal counted.  The first quarter was too close to call with the teams going goal-for-goal.  Jeffers were somewhat fortunate in that Seven Up had a lot of players on holiday, and had to bring in players from some of their lower-ranking teams to make up the numbers in centre court.  However, they were still strong contenders, and were just pipped to the honours in the first quarter by Jeffers, who won by 9 goals to 8.

Jeffers capitalised on mistakes in centre court in the second quarter, turning over ball and converting those turnovers into goals, thanks to accurate shooting from Sarah Curran and Debbie Sumner.  They took that quarter 10-7, meaning they only needed to win one more quarter for the match.  Despite the re-introduction of Seven Up's strong goal attack in the third quarter, Jeffers continued in the same vein, with great defence, especially from keeper Michelle Anthony whose long arms were pressuring the Seven Up shots and collecting any rebounds.  Jeffers won the quarter and the match by 12 goals to 8, meaning they had taken 6 of the 8 available points.  It was all about pride for Seven Up in the last quarter, and they pulled away as Jeffers took their foot off the gas.  Excellent shooting from Nicky Joseph was matched by a better defensive effort through court from Seven up as they won the final quarter by 9 goals to Jeffers 6, but it was too late as Jeffers won overall on points, 6-2.

Jeffers were delighted with their first Summer League win, but credit goes to Seven Up as well for putting up a strong fight, despite absences from their regular starting 7.

In the Division 2 final, Blue Stripes, who did amazingly well to top the group in their first season, took on Lilac Tornadoes.  As Stripes were a new team, they were given a goal advantage of 8 (although this dropped to 6 in the third and fourth quarters when a member of their Red Stripes team was brought on to make up the numbers).  Tornadoes were on 4 goals per quarter.  This meant that the match was very close, particularly when the Stripes goal advantage was reduced.  Tornadoes scraped a win in the first quarter, scoring 11 to Stripes' 10.  Stripes took the second quarter 11-7 with some excellent shooting from their goal shooter, who used her height advantage to hold a great position near the post.

Red Stripes' Fliss Chandler was introduced at centre in the third and fourth quarters to bring some speed and experience to the Blue Stripes game.  However, the resulting loss of two of their 8 goal advantage affected Stripes, and they lost the third quarter 11-9.  This meant that it was all to play for in the last quarter.  Both teams went back on court determined to win.  Tornadoes' wing defence battled for every ball (as our pictures show!), and it was key turnovers like these, together with great shooting from their captain, that eventually enabled Tornadoes to take the quarter 13-11, giving them the trophy, whilst Stripes seemed almost as pleased with the runners up prize of some Haribo sweets!

The teams and spectators enjoyed a great night of netball, with some great displays of umpiring and competitive netball.  All teams will now be having some down-time from the game before the winter season starts with the Open Tournament on 11 September.