The England U21 Roses were in astonishing form at the weekend as they dominated from the opening whistle to take three wins and once again lift the Netball Europe trophy.
With the focus now firmly set on the Netball World Youth Cup in Botswana next summer, Emily Perry would have been delighted with the response she got from her squad as the young Roses impressed at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff.
It was a late start for the U21s on Friday as they took to the court at 8pm for their opening fixture against Northern Ireland.
The England team rewarded the fans in attendance with a phenomenal display. An attacking masterclass pushed the Roses into a 26-5 advantage after fifteen minutes.
Although Northern Ireland had more success in the second quarter, the England attack continued to fire and had pushed their team 51-14 ahead at the half-time break.
The fabulous, creative attacking intent was summed up when Chiara Semple made herself an instant social media superstar with the most audacious no-look feed over her head and into the waiting arms of George Fisher to finish the move.
A 77-19 lead after three quarters moved to a 101-26 final score as all 12 squad members took to the court in a resounding success.
Next up for the Roses were Scotland, who themselves had claimed a very good opening day victory over Wales.
Another lightning quick start to the match saw the Roses pull 20-6 clear at the end of the opening quarter. This was backed up by defensive excellence as the advantage grew to 43-9 at the interval.
A resilient Thistles side continued to fight as England took the chance to make changes in the second half, but the momentum remained with the Roses.
The depth in the squad was apparent as England moved further clear at 61-18 with fifteen minutes to go and a final score of 81-24 was a fair reflection as to how the game unfolded.
It would have taken a miraculous result to deny the Roses the title on the final day and it was down to host nation Wales to spring the surprise.
However, the England defence were not in the mood for providing chances. A well battled first quarter ended 18-7 in favour of the reigning Champions but the second quarter is when the young Roses stamped their mark on the game.
Relentless work in the defensive third restricted the home side to very few chances and amazingly England would only concede one goal in Q2, taking a 45-8 lead into the break.
For the third match in a row, the bench was emptied and all 12 players were exposed to time on court.
Showing that they could perform for all four quarters, the supremacy continued and they stretched further clear to 68-13 at the end of third and 88-18 at the final whistle.
The long squad has now been announced ahead of further competitive fixtures next month for the U21s and the battle for a spot on the plane to Botswana is well and truly on.
England U21 results at Netball Europe 2016
England 101-26 Northern Ireland
Scotland 24-81 England
Wales 18-88 England
The squad representing the Roses at the 2016 Netball Europe U21 Championships was;
Summer Artman, Amy Carter, Amy Clinton, Iona Darroch, Rhea Dixon, George Fisher, Emily Hollingworth, Gabriella Marshall, Vicki Oyesola, Razia Quashie, Chiara Semple, Francesca Williams
England Netball would like to congratulate all of the squad on a fantastic achievement at Netball Europe.
