Author: Steve Wilks

Essex Open U14 Maroons vs Conquerors U14s

Final Score: Essex Open 41 – 32 Conquerors

Venue: Bancroft School (Home)

The Essex Open U14 Maroons opened their Sisters n Sport Plate campaign with a confident and well-structured performance at Bancroft School, defeating Conquerors 41–32 to progress to the next round.

Quarter 1: Fast Start and Clinical Shooting

Essex Open made an assertive start, with Azra and Evie combining superbly in the attacking third, moving the ball with pace and confidence. Evie’s shooting was near-impeccable, giving the home side early momentum.

In the mid-court, Bella and Siena worked tirelessly at centre and WA/C, dominating transitions and controlling the tempo, ensuring Essex Open kept the upper hand.

At the back, Zara-Ann and Ariella were impeccable in defence, reading the play well and turning over crucial ball. Conquerors threatened when they moved the ball quickly, but Essex Open held firm to take a 14–9 lead.

Quarter 2: Even Contest

Rotations in defence during the second quarter didn’t provide additional advantage, and Conquerors stayed level with the Maroons for most of the period. Despite the more balanced play, the strong work rate of Bella and Siena in the middle kept the team organised, and Essex Open maintained their five-goal lead at 20–15 by half-time.

Quarter 3: Dominance Restored

Returning to the original defensive setup brought immediate impact. Zara-Ann and Ariella once again tightened the defensiveunit, forcing errors and giving Essex Open a strong defensive platform.

In attack, Trish entered at goal shooter with Azra moving to wing attack. This shift added fluency and precision in the circle, contributing to a dominant third quarter. Lily came on to give Evie a well deserved rest and continued the momentum. Essex Open extended their lead to 32–20.

Quarter 4: Controlled Finish

With a 12-goal advantage, the team managed the game smartly in the final quarter. Player rotations were smooth, and the squad maintained control in all areas of the court. Conquerors continued to compete, but Essex Open remained composed and closed out the match professionally.

Player of the Match – Ariella Sebyala

We got off to a brilliant start against Essex Wanderers Pearl, storming quickly into a 4-0 lead. However, Essex Wanderers quickly regrouped to come back strongly. The match thereafter was extremely competitive and intense with both teams having possession of the ball and opportunities to extend their lead. Ultimately we fell short and lost the match 14-11, which was frustrating but also a lesson learnt as to what we need to do next time. With sharper passes, ensuring we minimise errors and making drives at the right time and not stopping until the ball is in our hands, we will get the win next time. Shoutout to Ella who performed strongly in defence on her first game back after injury and was awarded coaches player.

OPOM Ella McCauley

Win for Essex Open under 12 blues against Essex Wonderers. Final score: 18-3

We showed hard pressure in defence, done strong passing, shooting whenever we had the chance to and our communication was really good which helped us a lot.
We could have improved by not bunching together in a space and clearing out. We should have done less footwork and making accurate passes towards our fellow team mates.

Overall we played excellently and thank you for our coaches Rosemarie and Bisi who helped us improve all the way throughout the match and giving us wonderful feedback.

Player of the match: Savanna Lall (played GS)
Coaches player: Elin O’Connor

Well done for everyone who played!

Players: S.Lall, K.Ubhi, M.Murray, J.Oyelola, L.German, T.Bhogal, A.Penman, E.O’Connor, A.Bourantas,

Report by Laura German U12 Blue

Essex Open 11Blues 4 – 7 Essex Wanderer’s Ruby
Really tough game for the girls today against a good side, and the cold, wet conditions didn’t make things any easier. First time the Blues has had to play in weather like that, and it definitely challenged our footwork, passing accuracy, and overall flow of the game. Still, the blues pushed right through to the final whistle.

It may have been our first defeat of the season, but there is a lot to take pride in. Our defensive unit worked incredibly hard—great pressure over the ball, tight marking, and some brilliant intercepts. Shooting end showed composure too, with tricky conditions.

Moving forward, we’ll be focusing on showing more aggression and drive toward the ball—attacking those loose passes, contesting strongly through the midcourt, and giving ourselves better options in attack. Stronger leads, quicker resets, and more confidence feeding into the circle will take us up another level.

The effort, and teamwork were all there today. Super proud of how the girls kept fighting. We learn from it, we build on it, and we come back stronger next match.

OPOM – Olivia

CPOM – Ella and Georgia

An amazing experience  for Essex Under 14s as they played their Essex Met League game against Brampton Manor Academy  at the Copperbox on Sunday. They were the  warm up game before the England v New Zealand encounter. In an entertaining game Essex ran out winners. Well done to all.

Game 1: win against Weston Park 16 – 11

We worked really hard, as our attackers (GA & WA),started off strong, navigating the gap on centre passes. When it was Weston Park’s centre, the defenders (GD & WD) were on the shoulder making it difficult to pass the ball – creating a free pass.

Game 2: win against TTNC 18 – 6

The communication between the shooters was good as they created space for themselves. I also thought that the back up for the shooters from both defence
and circle attackers was good.

In the circle , GD & GK had a good communication for the rebounds, switching and who should mark the ball.

Game 3: loss against Eagles 16 – 9

The game started well, as the defenders were willing to get turnovers. However, the basic things we knew how to do weren’t going to plan , such as passes , catching and rebounds.

Overall we did really good for the first time!

Credit: Jessica Bantu-Buabo (U12M)