Turnford have been crowned champions of the 2024 U16 National Clubs Finals, in association with the British Army.
The East regional winners, coached by London Pulse’s Sam Bird, enjoyed an unbeaten weekend at the Beacon of Light in Sunderland.
Laying down a marker of intent on day one, Turnford recorded a commanding 11-37 victory over Chevrons before a dominant 39-12 display against Kent County.
Boasting some of England’s Europe Netball U17 Championship winners in their ranks, they continued to assert their dominance in the second stage of the competition.
They made it four from four on day one, running out 40-15 winners against Ryland before overcoming Grangetown 29-19, and their momentum carried through into day two with wins over eventual bronze medal winners Kingsway Power (32-20) and Eagles Netball Club (23-17).
Runners-up in 2023, Turnford were determined to go one better and get their hands on the top prize in 2024, and set up a final showdown with Oldham.
After two narrow opening round defeats (37-28 vs. Eagles and 32-30 vs. Oaksway), North West regional winners Oldham didn’t let their heads drop as they sought to improve on last year’s third-place finish.
In the second stage, they showed their strength with back-to-back victories over AP Saints (27-42) and Sutton Town (23-46) to see them into the group playing for first to sixth on Sunday.
Coming up against Weston Park Blades (21-38) and Poole (lost 31-32) in a group to decide who would reach the final, third-place play-off and fifth v sixth match, they topped the group after each team had one win to their name thanks to their superior goal average.
The stage was therefore set and with vocal backing for both teams, the atmosphere was electric as Turnford made it a clean sweep, triumphing 33–27.
In the third-place play-off, Kingsway Power edged a closely-fought contest with Poole 27-26 to take third.
At the presentation ceremony, Kingsway Power’s Issy Read was named the Gilbert Most Valuable Player as selected by Roses Pathway Head Coach Sonia Mkoloma.
The wing defence / goal defence / goal keeper, who helped Manchester Thunder to the U17 North title in the NPL competition, impressed with her performances over the weekend.
Physique Management also provided an England Netball approved first aid kit for the winning team along with prizes for all players on the winning team.
View a full list of all the results, as well as the final standings from the weekend’s competition here.
A huge thank you to all clubs, players, officials, volunteers, partners, supporters and staff for a fantastic weekend of action.
