LITTLE SUTTON
WIN 2025
U12 NETBALL CUP NATIONALS
.jpg)
Little Sutton became the first team from the Midlands to win a U12 Netball Cup National Finals. They faced tough opposition throughout the day and pulled off one of the biggest giant killings we've ever witnessed en route to becoming the U12 Champions. With over 300 spectators packed into the Essex Sports Arena on Mother's Day, it once again was another epic day in the history of this competition.
Group Stages
The hot favourites Oldham Owls, who won the U11 Netball Cup in 2024, expectedly topped their group with three convincing wins. Essex Open came second in Group A and even managed to hold their own against Oldham Owls, but too many missed shots meant they couldn't cause an unlikely upset.
Magic NC, the Southern champions, came through a tough opening game against Oldham Red to settle early nerves. Their final group match was against Little Sutton, which decided the top spot. Unlike the YNPL result a few months previously, Magic suffered their first defeat in the competition, and Little Sutton topped the group heading into the seeding round.
Group C was competitive. Oaksway defeated the Midlands and newly crowned YNPL champions Sutton Town. Poole started with a win but lost to Sutton Town, and then Oaksway lost to Poole. All three teams had defeated Hatfield, so the group was decided by goal difference. In the end, Sutton Town came out on top, Poole second, and Oaksway third.
Turnford, like Oldham Owls, didn't put a foot wrong in navigating their group. Three comprehensive wins meant they easily won the group. Ryland, who don't play in the YNPL, once again showed the strength of the Midlands with a win over Ellesmere Port. A draw in their final game meant they finished an impressive runner-up in Group D.
Results
Group A
Essex Open (7) Vs Hatfield Purple (5)
AP Saints (4) Vs Oldham Owls (11)
Oldham Owls (10) Vs Essex Open (1)
Hatfield Purple (8) Vs AP Saints (6)
Hatfield Purple (6) Vs Oldham Owls (15)
AP Saints (6) Vs Essex Open (7)
Group B
Magic NC (11) Vs Oldham Red (8)
Little Sutton (10) Vs MK Dons (4)
MK Dons (3) Vs Magic NC (11)
Little Sutton (9) Vs Oldham Red (5)
Magic NC (4) Vs Little Sutton (7)
MK Dons (8) Vs Oldham Red (5)
Group C
Poole NC (12) Vs Hatfield White (5)
Oaksway NC (9) Vs Sutton Town (7)
Sutton Town (10) Vs Poole NC (5)
Oaksway NC (9) Vs Hatfield White (4)
Poole NC (9) Vs Oaksway NC (4)
Sutton Town (9) Vs Hatfield White (4)
Group D
Ellesmere Port (6) Vs Ryland NC (7)
Turnford NC (10) Vs Bramhall NC (2)
Ellesmere Port (7) Vs Bramhall NC (3)
Ryland NC (1) Vs Turnford NC (8)
Ryland NC (6) Vs Bramhall NC (6)
Turnford NC (6) Vs Ellesmere Port (4)
Seeding Round
This round offered the chance for teams to move up the position table heading into the knockouts and an opportunity for decent match-play so all teams were prepared for the high-stakes games.
The top two teams from the groups faced each other, and Oldham Owls went into the knockouts as our number one team at the expense of Turnford, who came second overall. Sutton Town defeated local rival Little Sutton, a game that was a warm-up for a future encounter. Poole surprisingly defeated Magic, a repeat of the Southern Final, but this time, Poole came out on top.
Essex Open won a close encounter against Ryland to finish seventh, and Oldham Red finally got their first win, setting up a quarter-final tie against Little Sutton.
Results
Oldham Owls (11) Vs Turnford NC (3)
Little Sutton (6) Vs Sutton Town (9)
Magic NC (5) Vs Poole NC (11)
Essex Open (5) Vs Ryland NC (4)
Hatfield Purple (11) Vs MK Dons (5)
Ellesmere Port (8) Vs Oaksway NC (9)
Bramhall NC (6) Vs Oldham Red (10)
AP Saints (4) Vs Hatfield White (8)
Last 16
The top teams in this round all breezed into the quarter-finals. Oldham Owls, Sutton Town, Turnford, and Little Sutton all won convincingly. The pattern of the teams expected to win in this round continued as all the runners-up from the groups won their games and avoided any shocks going into the latter stages.
Results
Oldham Owls (14) Vs AP Saints (3)
Little Sutton (12) Vs Oldham Red (4)
Turnford NC (16) Vs Hatfield White (2)
Sutton Town (12) Vs Bramhall NC (1)
Poole NC (9) Vs MK Dons (4)
Essex Open (8) Vs Ellesmere Port (5)
Hatfield Purple (6) Vs Magic NC (12)
Ryland NC (6) Vs Oaksway NC (9)
9th-16th Play-Offs Results
Ellesmere Port (9) Vs Hatfield White (6)
Ryland NC (5) Vs AP Saints (3)
Bramhall NC (3) Vs Hatfield Purple (12)
Oldham Red (13) Vs Mk Dons (5)
Quarter Finals
Oaksway has caused Oldham Owls some trouble in these short games in the past, but on this occasion, they didn't start well enough to put the competition favourites under pressure. The result was a straightforward 13-4 win. Turnford was super impressive throughout this event and, like Oldham Owls, continued to brush sides away. This time, Essex Open were their victims, and like Oldham, they advanced to the semi-finals.
Little Sutton had to dig deep against a very durable Poole NC. For a large part of the game, the score was level, and in the final couple of minutes, Little Sutton got the breathing space needed to win.
Sutton Town took on Magic in a mouth-watering quarter-final tie. Both teams came first and second in the YNPL, so it was guaranteed to be a fantastic contest. Both sides couldn't be separated throughout the game, with both teams replying to each other's goals. As the game moved into the latter stages, both sides had the chance to take the initiative, but the nerves were showing, and mistakes were becoming more consistent. With less than thirty seconds to go and the game tied, Magic found themselves with the ball, and the chance to win was on. They entered the shooting circle, and a missed shot went astray. As both the Sutton Town and Magic players fought for the ball, the umpire deemed it was a foul on the Sutton Town player, and all of a sudden, Sutton Town had the chance to win the game. The seconds ticked down, and Magic was praying for a turnover. With only five seconds to go, Libby from Sutton Town lined up a shot and broke Magic's heart as she scored the winner on the buzzer.
Results
Oldham Owls (13) Vs Oaksway NC (4)
Little Sutton (5) Vs Poole NC (3)
Sutton Town (10) Vs Magic NC (9)
Turnford NC (10) Vs Essex Open (3)
13th-16th Semi-Final Results
AP Saints (11) Vs MK Dons (7)
Bramhall NC (7) Vs Hatfield White (6)
9th-12th Semi-Final Results
Ellesmere Port (8) Vs Hatfield Purple (6)
Oldham Red (8) Vs Ryland NC (6)
5th-8th Semi-Finals Results
Essex Open (5) Vs Magic NC (7)
Poole NC (7) Vs Oaksway NC (6)
Semi-Finals
After their dramatic win over Magic, you could have forgiven Sutton Town for not having the mental energy to do it all over again. They took Turnford, who had been faultless all day and only lost in the seeding round to Oldham Owls before this game. A close match saw Sutton Town win by two points and a place in the final.
Oldham Owls took on Little Sutton in a tense affair. Over the years, these two teams have been battling it out for dominance in this age group. Last season, Oldham Owls defeated Little Sutton in the final of the U11 event and again in this season's regional heat final.
The game started with both teams trying to get on the front foot. These two teams have some of the best defenders in the country, and both defenses were coming out on top, as the game was only 1-1 at the halfway mark. With both teams missing shots and defences doing well to slow down the game and stop the feeds into the shooting circle, the game was crying out for one of the teams to take the initiative, and finally, it was Little Sutton who went ahead with minutes to go. After going ahead, Little Sutton then went two points ahead as they scored from their centre pass. With the Arena going into a frenzy, the pressure was on Oldham to respond, and once again, the Little Sutton defense stood up to the challenge. Little Sutton sealed the win with seconds to go to make it 4-1 to cap off an incredible performance.
Results
Turnford NC (5) Vs Sutton Town (7)
Oldham Owls (1) Vs Little Sutton (4)
15th-16th Play-Off Final
Hatfield White (11) Vs MK Dons (12)
13th-14th Play-Off Final
AP Saints (13) Vs Bramhall NC (6)
11th-12th Play-Off Final
Hatfield Purple (9) Vs Ryland NC (10)
9th-10th Play-Off Final
Oldham Red (10) Vs Ellesmere Port (5)
7th-8th Play-Off Final
Essex Open (13) Vs Oaksway NC (7)
5th-6th Play-Off Final
Poole NC (9) Vs Magic NC (13)
3rd/4th Play-Off Final
Turnford and Oldham Owls had to pick themselves up after devastating losses in the semi-finals. Oldham Owls took the initiative, but Turnford's incredible fightback got them back into the game, and it was level going into the final minutes. Oldham Owls didn't want a repeat of the previous match against Little Sutton and dug deep to secure a third-place finish.
Result
Turnford NC (8) Vs Oldham Owls (9)
Final
For the first time in the competition's history, we had an all-Midlands final. These sides had met earlier in the competition in the Seeding Round, and Sutton Town came out on top as they did in the YNPL game a few months back.
Sutton Town started well in this game and was confident about winning. Little Sutton could have wasted so much mental energy in the previous game and maybe couldn't respond to Sutton Town's dominance, but instead, it was the opposite. Sensing Sutton Town potentially moving further ahead, Little Sutton responded like true champions and went in at halftime 6-3 up. An inspirational team talk from the Sutton Town coaches ignited their fire even more going into the second half, and even though the game was close, you could sense there was only one winner. Ultimately, Little Sutton won the game and won this event for the first time in the club's history.
Result
Little Sutton (12) Vs Sutton Town (8)