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Northern Ireland Net Silver at European Championship
Congratulations to the U21 Northern Ireland netball team who took the silver medal at the European Championships held in Lisburn at the weekend.Making her debut National coach Jackie Portis was aiming for silver and the team exceeded expectations with outstanding performances against England, Wales and Scotland.
In their opening match against England on Friday night in front of a large crowd they came within four goals of the eventual champions in the final quarter but England were able to hold on to win by nine goals 51-42. Wales defeated Scotland 43-42 in the following match.
A comfortable 59-34 win for Northern Ireland over Scotland on Saturday set them up to challenge for silver on Sunday. Northern Ireland were outstanding against the Welsh in the final match of the tournament with Lisa Bowman in superb shooting form and Wing Attack Laura Mason at only 5'1" causing all sorts of trouble and combining with Michelle Drayne in centre court to thwart the tall Welsh defence. Deborah McCarthy and Laura McDonald dominated in the defending circle and Neamh Woods and Kirsty Owens were back to form following injury.
This all round team effort will raise morale as the players prepare for the World Youth Champions next year in Cook Islands and possible selection for the 6 Nations this September in Singapore.
The Under 17 team missed out on a European medals in Cardiff defeating Gibraltar 86-11 in the opener and in the final match against the Republic of Ireland winning 56-13. The draw with Scotland 27-27 and losing to Wales and England cost them a medal with Wales and Scotland also drawing. England won with Wales second and Scotland taking the bronze.
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