U15 Junior Grand Prix review (30th November and 1st December)

A total of 41 girls’ teams and 15 boys’ teams showcased their skills over the weekend, competing at eight different venues in what marked the final Tier 2 round before Christmas.

In the girls’ Pool A, hosted by Ashfield Vipers, it was the home team, Ashfield Vipers A, that claimed the top spot.

They secured victory in three group stage matches and triumphed over their clubmates, Ashfield Vipers B, with a 2-0 win in the final to take the pool title.

Vipers B followed closely behind, finishing as runners-up securing wins against Sheffield A and B, who placed third and fourth, respectively.

Seven teams competed in the Girls' Pool B, hosted at Newcastle Staffs, with five of those teams representing the host club.

Newcastle Staffs A proved to be a dominant force, winning all six of their matches without dropping a set, finishing as pool winners.

They were closely followed by Newcastle Staffs B, who placed second with five victories.

Wirral finished in third place, drawing against fourth-placed Newcastle Staffs C in their head-to-head match but securing one more win overall to prevent a clean sweep of the top three by Newcastle Staffs teams.

The pool concluded with Preston Panthers in fifth, Newcastle Staffs D in sixth, and Newcastle Staffs E in seventh.

South Hants hosted Pool D with four teams representing the club. 

This pool featured nine teams, split into three groups of three. The winners of each group advanced to the gold pool, the runners-up went to the silver pool, and the third-placed teams were placed in the bronze pool.

From there, teams competed in their respective pools -  gold, silver, and bronze - to determine the overall standings.

South Hants Blue topped the gold pool, triumphing in all their matches, including straight-set victories over second-placed Wessex A and third-placed Wessex B, to finish as overall pool winners.

Another South Hants team, South Hants Orange, finished first in the silver pool, with Brighton and Worthing B completing the group. This resulted in South Hants Orange finishing fourth overall, Brighton in fifth, and Worthing B in sixth.

The final pool to conclude Pool D was the bronze pool, where Worthing A fought hard to top the group, defeating both South Hants Green and South Hants Black 3-0. 

As a result, Worthing A placed seventh in the overall standings, with South Hants Green and South Hants Black finishing eighth and ninth respectively.

Pool E was the largest pool of the weekend, featuring a total of 11 teams. The pool was divided into two groups of four and one group of three.

After the group stages were completed, the tournament concluded with crossover matches, where the first-placed teams from each group faced off, the second-placed teams competed against each other, and so on.

Richmond A and Team Sideout A emerged as the two strongest teams of the group stages, both winning their groups. In the final showdown to decide the overall winner, Richmond A triumphed with a convincing 25-18 victory.

The match for third and fourth place saw Richmond B take on Team Sideout C, both of whom had placed second in their groups. Richmond B secured third place overall, defeating Team Sideout C in a competitive encounter.

For fifth and sixth place, Richmond C faced Team Sideout B. Richmond C narrowly edged out their opponents with a 25-17 win to claim fifth place.

A closely-contested match between Wapping A and Playfit Sport A determined the seventh and eighth positions. Wapping A secured a hard-fought 25-20 victory, placing seventh, while Playfit Sport A finished eighth.

In the bronze pool, Playfit Sport B dominated, winning all four of their matches while dropping just one set. They topped the bronze pool standings, followed by Richmond D in second and Wapping Wildcats B in third.

South Bucks hosted an exciting Pool F, where both of their teams put in strong performances, claiming the top two positions. 

South Bucks A narrowly edged top spot, winning three matches and drawing one, with the draw coming against their second-placed club mates, South Bucks B.

The battle for third place was a keen one, with both Welwyn & Hatfield A and VBDC finishing with one win, one draw, and two losses. 

However, Welwyn & Hatfield A edged out VBDC for the third position, due to a higher point difference

On the boys’ side, Pool A was a highly competitive group, with several teams delivering excellent performances.

Wessex A emerged as the dominant force, topping Pool A, which was hosted by Royal Wootton Bassett.

They made sure of an impeccable record with five wins from five matches without dropping a set and boasted a points difference of +100.

The hosts, Royal Wootton Bassett, also had a strong campaign, winning three out of five matches to finish second with six points.

Despite losses to both Wessex teams, they edged out third-placed Brighton, who also finished with six points, by having a higher set difference.

VBDC were fourth, followed by Wessex B in fifth and South Hants in sixth.

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