LEEDS BLUE
WIN U15 YNPL
GRAND FINALS
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Leeds Blue had to battle past their fellow teammates from Leeds Black to secure the U15 YNPL Grand Finals. This was the second time in the clubs history they have won this competition.
Quarter-Finals
A straightforward win for the top two teams in the Southern & Northern Conference. Leeds Blue, Sutton Town, and Conquerors were expected to win their games, but the Essex Open was tipped to cause an upset over Leeds Black. After a poor start, Essex Open had to play catch-up against a very talented Leeds Black side. Even though they managed to make the score competitive, their lack of focus in the opening quarters ultimately killed off their chances of securing a semi-final position.
Results
Conquerors NC (32) Vs Ribble Valley (22)
Leeds Blue (38) Vs Hatfield NC (17)
Leeds Black (30) Vs Essex Open (25)
Sutton Town (28) Vs Trafford Juniors (16)
5th-8th Play-Offs
Ribble Valley managed to get their first win of the competition against Hatfield and Essex Open won an exciting contest against Trafford Juniors.
Results
Ribble Valley (28) Vs Hatfield NC (20)
Essex Open (22) Vs Trafford Juniors (21)
Semi-Finals
A slow start by the Conquerors killed off what should have been an exciting game. Leeds Blue capitalised on the Conqueror's errors early on, and they were in no mood to let them off the hook. Despite Conquerors making the game competitive in the second half, the damage had been done in the first half and Leeds progressed to the final.
Leeds Black and Sutton Town played out one of the games of the season in this epic semi-final tie. The opening quarter saw Leeds start the better of the two teams. Sutton Town struggled to find the right pass in the shooting circle and found themselves three points down early on. As the quarter continued, Sutton Town finally started to find the right passes and leveled the tie, but Leeds took the lead late into the quarter by two points.
The second quarter started in the same way as the first, with Leeds dominating the mid-court. Leeds had built a wall to stop Sutton Town attacks, and Sutton Town were struggling to find fluency in their play. At one point, Leeds were six points ahead, but a flurry of Sutton Town goals towards the back of the quarter got them out of jail, and going into the half time, they were still in the game.
Sutton Town started the third quarter in good form, forcing turnovers in the Leeds attacking third and showcasing a good range of feeds to get into the shooting circle. With the game level, Sutton Town pushed to get ahead, but Leeds stayed strong and managed to go ahead with five seconds to go of the quarter after an exceptional shot from the GA. Game on going in the final quarter.
The fourth quarter started with both teams scoring, as Sutton Town took advantage of their center pass at the beginning, leveling the game. After the initial goals were scored, the game entered a phase where both teams looked very nervous, and for three minutes, there was a constant back-and-forth of attacks being shut down by the resilient defenses. With around a minute and a half to go, Sutton Town found themselves one point ahead and had the chance to make it two. Leeds knew this was a pivotal moment in the game, and their incredible WA sensed an opportunity for an intercept of the center and was successful; all of a sudden, Leeds went back down the other end to level the game. Leeds stormed forward and leveled the game and then quickly went ahead off their centre pass. Sutton Town had twenty seconds to draw the tie, and they did. With ten seconds to go, Leeds had the chance to win the tie, and the ball fell to their exceptional GA with three seconds to go. She lined up and took the shot, and the world fell still, but it landed just short of the target and bounced away to send the game into overtime.
The opening half of overtime saw both teams squander opportunities to take the lead, often due to poor passes or, from another perspective, effective defensive work. Sutton Town got the first goal and went ahead and Leeds responded. As the first overtime half was coming to an end, Sutton Town turned over the Leeds attack to level the game and, for the first time in the tie, were ahead with two minutes to go.
This game had it all, and the drama wasn't over. Sutton Town had the chance to make it two points ahead of their centre at the start of the second half of overtime but were called for a held ball. Leeds rapidly went down the court and leveled the gamea and then quickly taking the lead after a stunning pass from their GA to the GS. Sutton Town scored to level the tie with just under twenty second remaining. Leeda attacked to win the game, and the ball fell to their GA with seconds to go. Not long ago, she had missed the shot to win the game on the buzzer for her side, and now she had the opportunity to do it again. This time, though, she sunk the shot, and Leeds were victorious in what was an incredible game of netball.
Results
Leeds Blue (28) Vs Conquerors NC (21)
Leeds Black (27) Vs Sutton Town (26)
5th-8th Play-Off Finals
Straight-forward wins for both teams in this round. Essex finished the day with a convincing win over Ribble Valley, and Trafford Juniors defeated Hatfield to secure the seventh-place position.
7th-8th Result
Trafford Juniors (34) Vs Hatfield NC (24)
5th-6th Result
Essex Open (29) Vs Ribble Valley (21)
3rd/4th Play-Off
Another epic encounter between two incredible teams saw Sutton Town on the other side of a one-point game. Both teams were desperate to finish the game on a high, and it was Sutton Town who just got the win to claim third place in the competition.
Result
Sutton Town (22) Vs Conquerors (21)
Final
Normally, when two teams from the same club compete, there is a feeling that the game won't be competitive, but this is delivered to the watching spectators.
The first quarter saw Leeds Blue start the game brighter, and they were two points up heading into the second quarter. With only five seconds to go, an extraordinary move downcourt saw them score one of the best buzzer shots the competition has ever seen, and they unexpectedly went in at the break three points ahead.
The match was slowly warming up, and the competitive nature of the players was slowly creeping in. The same pattern of play was replicated from the first quarter into the second quarter, and unbelievably, Leeds Blue scored another incredible buzzer shot to once again go in at halftime three points ahead.
The third quarter saw Leeds Black turn the game around and go ahead. A frantic couple of minutes towards the end of the quarter saw both teams throw the ball away countless times, but Leeds Black went into the final quarter two points ahead.
Leeds Blue battled back in the final quarter, capitalising on several Leeds Black mistakes. With only forty seconds to go, there was only one point in it. Leeds Black needed a turnover to take the game to overtime, but they couldn't do it, and Leeds Blue were crowned the champions.
Result
Leeds Blue (27) Vs Leeds Black (24)
All-Star Team
Amelia Ross (Sutton Town), Liv Gallagher (Ribble Valley), Renee Hurley (Essex Open), Layla Thomas (Hatfield NC), Ayla Laguna (Conquerors), Molly Smith (Leeds Black), Naomi Webber (Leeds Blue)
MVP - Heidi Roscoe (Leeds Black)