Essex Open entered the National Under 19 tournament held at Redbridge Sports Centre on Saurday 4th July.
Essex Open fielded an Under 19 team consisting of a mixture of past and present players. Seven teams entered the competition which was run on a round robin basis. Essex stated well with an 18-16 victory over Birmingham based Bar Beacon. In a tightly contested game Essex were always able to keep just in front.
In their next game Essex were soundly beaten 19-8 by Oaksway. Essex couldn’t recover from a poor start and were never in contention. A poor start in their next game found Essex 14-3 down at half time against Oldham. Oldham eventually ran out 22-8 winners.
The next game against Telstars was much more competitive. It was end to end in the first half and at half time Telstars had inched into a narrow 10-7 lead. Essex were never really able to make inroads into the deficit and Telstars held out to win 19-13.

The next game against Thoroughbreds was another thriller. A very competitive first half saw Essex lead 9-8. The second half was just as tight and for a spell it could have gone either way. Three goals in quick succession saw Essex record their second victory of the day winning 19-14.
In the final game Essex played the eventual winners Weston Park Blades. The first half saw Essex produce some of their best netball of the day. Trailing at half time 7-5 Essex had real hope of causing an upset. However Weston Park piled on the pressure in the second half and Essex could not respond eventually going down 17- 8.
Although winning two and losing four the team had an enjoyable day and were pleased to be back together.
Dawkins, Livingstone, Herbert, Mead, R Wilks, O’Shodi, Reynolds-Blanche, Lamb, Prideaux