Shan recorded one of the most unpredictable outcomes in ENG history after their incredible win in our ENG U11 Netball Cup Nationals. They entered this event as the third seed in their regional heat and, despite finishing third in the group stages, navigated their way through a strict set of games to become champions.

​

Group Stages

​

Group A
Quadruple chasers Oldham Red Kites were in no mood to allow any team to feel they had a chance to topple them in the group stages after they convincingly won all their games.

​

Oldham Eagles had a tough start to the group stages after a shock loss to newcomers Panthers Elite. They did bounce back against Wodson Park and just about squeezed into the runners-up spot. Panthers Elite and Wodson also finished on two points but had to settle for third and fourth due to an inferior goal difference.

​

Results
Panthers Elite (10) Vs Oldham Eagles (6)
Oldham Red Kites (10) Vs Wodson Park (1)
Oldham Red Kites (16) Vs Panthers Elite (3)
Oldham Eagles (6) Vs Wodson Park (5)
Wodson Park (7) Vs Panthers Elite (6)
Oldham Red Kites (9) Vs Oldham Eagles (3)

​

Group B
One of the toughest groups in the competition, and it wasn't a disappointment. Hot favourites to come into the top four in this event Wilmslow Lightning took on Manchester Cats in their opening game. Manchester Cats, who had qualified third in the north, caused an upset with a narrow one-point win to throw the group wide open early on.

​

Starz had a tough start against a determined Essex Open but still won 6-4. They followed this up with a win over Manchester Cats to top the group early on. Their final game was against Wilmslow Lightning, and Wilsmlow was determined to try and top the group after their opening game loss. A close game saw both sides gain and lose the lead, and in the end, both had to settle for a draw.

​

Manchester Cats had the chance to go into the runner-up spot in the table with a win over Essex Open but failed after a 10-6 loss. They went from potentially going into second to then plummeting to the bottom of the group.

​

Results
Manchester Cats (7) Vs Wilmslow Lightning (6)
Essex Open (4) Vs Starz NC (6)
Starz NC (9) Vs Manchester Cats (5)
Essex Open (4) Vs Wilmslow Lightning (8)
Manchester Cats (6) Vs Essex Open (10)
Starz NC (5) Vs Wilmslow Lightning (5)

​

Group C
Ellesmere Port made light work of topping this group. Apart from the Sutton Town game, they won their games convincingly to top the group going into the knockouts.

​

We had another shock result from a side that was new to this national final. Sonic Boom came from behind to defeat Sutton Town to get them off to a winning start. They couldn't get another, but on another day, they would have at least finished third, but in this instance, they finished fourth in the group.

​

Below-par AP Saints and Sutton Town struggled in this group, but Sutton Town secured a runner-up position after they defeated AP Saints.

​

Results
AP Saints (2) Vs Ellesmere Port (9)
Sutton Town (6) Vs Sonic Boom (7)
Sonic Boom (1) Vs AP Saints (9)
Sutton Town (4) Vs Ellesmere Port (6)
AP Saints (4) Vs Sutton Town (7)
Sonic Boom (3) Vs Ellesmere Port (8)

​

Group D
The Southern champions Poole took the top spot in this group with ease. They looked good for a top-four finish and are a fantastic group stage performance.

​

Turnford performed well in the group but suffered a heavy defeat against Poole, which raised questions about their ability against the top teams moving into the knockouts. Shan, who dramatically advanced to the nationals after a one-goal win over Magic in the regionals, got a slender victory over Altrincham to finish third.

​

Results
Shan NC (4) Vs Poole NC (7)
Turnford NC (6) Vs Altrincham NC (4)
Altrincham NC (8) Vs Shan NC (10)
Turnford NC (1) Vs Poole NC (11)
Shan NC (6) Vs Turnford NC (8)
Altrincham NC (2) Vs Poole NC (8)

​

Seeding Round
The seeding round gave every team a chance to guarantee an easier game on paper, as well as an opportunity to gain valuable match-play experience heading into the Last 16.

​

There wasn't much drama in terms of unlikely wins, but Ellesmere Port was looking good after an impressive win over Starz to move them into the third-place position heading into the knockouts. Sutton Town once again lost, with AP Saints, Shan, Manchester Cats, and Altrincham all getting morale-boosting wins.

​

Results
Oldham Red Kites (12) Vs Poole NC (3)
Ellesmere Port (10) Vs Starz NC (6)
Wilmslow Lightning (7) Vs Turnford NC (3)
Sutton Town (3) Vs Oldham Eagles (7)
AP Saints (6) Vs Essex Open (4)
Shan NC (8) Vs Wodson Park (7)
Manchester Cats (11) Vs Panthers Elite (4)
Sonic Boom (4) Vs Altrincham NC (8)

​

Last 16
The majority of games in this round were close, except for Oldham Red Kites defeating Sonic Boom, Ellesmere Port defeating Panthers Elite, and AP Saints defeating Sutton Town.

​

The close games included Poole defeating Altrincham, Oldham Eagles winning against Essex Open, Starz defeating Manchester Cats and Wilmslow Lighting just squeezing past Wodson.

​

The shock of the round came with Shan's defeat of Turnford. In the groups, Turnford had defeated Shan, but an extra-time goal sealed the win for the South London-based side.

​

Results
Oldham Red Kites (13) Vs Sonic Boom (3)
Sutton Town (1) Vs AP Saints (6)
Poole NC (7) Vs Altrincham NC (4)
Oldham Eagles (5) Vs Essex Open (3)
Ellesmere Port (16) Vs Panthers Elite (6)
Turnford NC (7) Vs Shan NC (9)
Starz NC (8) Vs Manchester Cats (6)
Wilmslow Lightning (4) Vs Wodson Park (2)

9th-16th Play-Offs Results
Sonic Boom (5) Vs Sutton Town (8)
Altrincham NC (7) Vs Essex Open (8)
Panthers Elite (5) Vs Turnford NC (8)
Manchester Cats (8) Vs Wodson Park (6)

​

Quarter Finals
The competition was about to heat up. Oldham Red Kites, who had cruised into the quarter-finals, found themselves under pressure against AP Saints. A pivotal moment came when AP Saints missed a shot to level the game around the halfway mark of the game. This miss took the momentum away from AP Saints, and Oldham took advantage, ultimately winning the game without too much stress.

​

Poole came unstuck against Oldham Eagles in a game they were expected to win after such a positive performance up until this point. Even though they were the younger side, Oldham Eagles were superb and dominated the game, and earned a place in the semi-finals.

​

Ellesmere Port, who hadn't put a foot wrong all day, took on Shan NC in a game they were expected to win. The game was goal for goal, with both sides attacking the post well. After the halfway mark, Shan finally broke down the Ellesmere Port attack and went a point ahead. Ellesmere Port held their composure and broke Shan's center pass to level the game with three minutes to go. With a minute and a half to go, Shan once again turned over the Ellesmere Port attack and went a goal ahead. It was their center pass next, and a goal would seal the win. Shan, who had come third in their group, held their nerve, got the point, and saw out the victory to head into the semi-finals.

​

Starz was the final team to progress into the semi-finals with a win over Wilmslow Lightning. A close game ended with Starz winning 7-4.

​

Results
Oldham Red Kites (9) Vs AP Saints (4)
Poole NC (6) Vs Oldham Eagles (10)
Ellesmere Port (7) Vs Shan NC (9)
Starz NC (7) Vs Wilmslow Lightning (4)

​

13th-16th Finals
Panthers Elite (9) Vs Altrincham NC (5)
Wodson Park (8) Vs Sonic Boom (6)

​

9th-12th Finals
Sutton Town (4) Vs Manchester Cats (9)
Turnford NC (6) Vs Essex Open (3)

​

5th-8th Finals
Poole NC (10) Vs Ellesmere Port (5)
AP Saints (4) Vs Wilmslow Lightning (9)

​

Semi-Finals
Shan weren't expected to be in the semi-finals, and they played Oldham Eagles, who themselves didn't expect to be in this position after an indifferent start to the event. Shan, in this tie, dominated the younger Oldham side and won with relative ease, reaching their first-ever Netball Cup Final.

​

The game of the day came between Starz and Oldham Red Kites. Oldham was looking for a quadruple of major ENG wins this season, and Starz, whom they had played in the YNPL Final a few weeks prior, stood in their way.

​

Starz started well with a good center pass to move into the shooting circle but missed the shot to gift the incentive almost immediately to Oldham Red Kites. Oldham scored off the Starz mistake, and with their center pass, they had to be patient to make the score 2-0. Starz did well to turnover the ball, but another mistake by Starz in the attack gifted Oldham another opportunity to score, and the game looked bleak for Starz early on.

​

At 2-0, Starz finally scored and you could see what they were trying to do to upset the Oldham game. Starz had the tactic of passing the ball alot and short to drain the clock and this was clearly frustrating Oldham. Oldham though managed to make the score 3-1 going into the second half of the game.

​

Starz continued with their method of draining the clock and, with their short passes, drew the Oldham players into fouling more often, which helped them move up the court. The Starz shooters were now wide awake, and all of a sudden, the score was 3-3, and Starz looked super confident of the win.

​

With the score level, the next team to score would be vital to the game's outcome. Oldham had a couple of chances to make the score 4-3, but some misplaced passes and missed shots gave the incentive back to Starz. With the game tied, Starz once again slowly made their way up the court and scored to take a 4-3 lead. Oldham leveled the game straight away, and with it being a Starz centre pass and not much time on the clock, could they do the unthinkable and defeat Oldham.

​

Another slow advance up the court saw Starz awarded a foul, which was advanced. This gave their shooter, Stella, a chance to put them ahead, and she made an exceptional shot to put them on the verge of a famous victory. It was now Oldham's centre pass and a chance to draw the game, but a foul was called off the centre pass and Starz just ran down the clock to record their biggest win of the season and a place in the final.

​

Results
Shan NC (12) Vs Oldham Eagles (6)
Starz NC (5) Vs Oldham Red Kites (4)

​

15th-16th Final
Sonic Boom (7) Vs Altrincham NC (10)

13th-14th Final
Panthers Elite (4) Vs Wodson Park (11)

11th-12th Final
Sutton Town (2) Vs Essex Open (6)

9th-10th Final
Manchester Cats (8) Vs Turnford NC (9)

7th-8th Final
AP Saints NC (7) Vs Ellesmere Port (6)

5th-6th Final
Wilmslow Lightning (10) Vs Poole NC (6)

3rd/4th Final
Oldham Red Kites (13) Vs Oldham Eagles (9)

​

Final
A nervous start from Shan saw them go two goals down early on in the game. Once they scored their first goal, they settled down, and it was game on.

​

The previous week, Starz had defeated Shan by ten goals on route to qualifying for this competition, but as the half wore on, it was clear Starz was going to have to repeat the same performance that won them their game against Oldham Red Kites, due to Shan playing superbly, especially working the ball around the shooting circle to find space for the shot. Shan was superbly suffocating Starz in the middle of the court, and they struggled to get down the court at the speed they desired. But they persisted and managed to go in at halftime 3-3.

​

Shan started the second half, turning over the ball and scoring to make it 4-3. Starz responded by turning over the Shan centre pass and getting it back to 4-4. Starz then had the chance to go ahead, but the Shan GK was incredible at rebounding missed shots, and Shan, at this point, continued to improve. Starz struggled at this point to respond to the Shan pressure, led by the incredible Arabella Manzi, and scored multiple goals without reply.

​

Shan became the U11 Netball Cup National Champions after one of the most remarkable runs to the final. They became the first team from London to win a major ENG national final.

​

Result
Shan NC (7) Vs Starz NC (4)

​

All-Star Team
Nhara Hotene (Oldham Red Kites), Imogen Butler (Shan NC), Eva Griffiths (Sutton Town), Isabelle Clarke (Poole NC), Tvisha Nair (Panthers Elite), Ava Navaratnam (AP Saints), Jessica Kett (Sonic Booms), Amor Boniface (Starz NC), Fern Lang (Oldham Eagles), Fleur Inzani (Wodson Park), Aarushi Gupta (Wilmslow Lightning), Elisha Owolabi (Essex Open), Ella Nicholson (Ellesmere Port), Pippa Miller (Altrincham NC), Louise Sandy (Turnford NC), April Newton (Manchester Cats)

​

MVP: Arabella Manzi (Shan NC)