BY RICHARD BULLICK
NORTHERN Ireland romped to the Challenge section title at netball’s European Under 17 Championships in Gibraltar with four comprehensive victories, including rounding off a successful campaign by blasting the home nation 71-25.
The emerging greens had begun by crushing unfancied Israel 72-11 in their Friday fixture before doubling up on Saturday with a resounding 56-24 defeat of Isle of Man followed by an 89-25 thrashing of Switzerland later in the day.
Jenny Clayton’s team were consigned to playing in the second tier tournament after finishing bottom of the table at last year’s European Championships at Antrim Forum thanks to Netball Europe’s obscure bonus points formula.
Although Northern Ireland beat European interlopers UAE at that event, the teams ended up level on points and the hosts were placed last on scoring difference, condemning them to a promotion-relegation play-off against 2023 Challenge section winners Republic of Ireland.
That derby battle took place in Newtownards at the end of January with a more mature, physically developed Republic team comprised mainly of English-born players coming out on top against Jenny Clayton’s young Northern Ireland outfit.
The silver lining is that the girls in green enjoyed a winning week in Gibraltar, albeit against generally outclassed opponents in a similar scenario to the Ireland women’s rugby team annihilating Kazakhstan and Colombia at last October’s WXV3 tournament in Dubai.
Nine of this squad of 12 will still be eligible for next year’s Under 17 Euros, though Northern Ireland must still come through an expensive play-off against UAE, of which details have yet to be confirmed, if they are to be back in the main competition in 2025.
With a team made mainly of players from English ex-pat families, UAE certainly weren’t embarrassed in Gibraltar, only losing to Wales and Scotland by the respectable margins of 19 and 16 goals respectively.
But they finished last thanks to losing 51-43 in the crunch clash with Republic of Ireland, who were also competitive against the most established sides, going down 50-37 to the Scots and being beaten 49-41 by the Welsh.
All three teams, including Northern Ireland, look too strong for the Challenge section so continental governing body Europe Netball should consider expanding the top tier to six teams, divided into two groups with crossover placings games on the third day.
That would also produce a more closely-contested Challenge section featuring the four remaining lower tier teams to keep the overall number of competing countries the same, or Malta could possibly be brought in as an additional nation.
With Northern Ireland odds on to win every game in Gibraltar this time, it was all about being ruthless, setting their own standards and focusing on internal accountability rather than just being satisfied with winning.
They were generally efficient, fairly relentless and dominant throughout, losing only one quarter across their four matches when being outscored 9-6 in the last period against Isle of Man on Saturday morning as top players were rested for the Swiss encounter that evening.
Northern Ireland led Israel 42-4 at half-time after keeping the opposition to just a single goal in the second quarter of Friday’s fixture and their highest-scoring 15 minutes was the opening period against Switzerland, which finished 26-3.
Hosts Gibraltar were still technically in contention for the Challenge section title when they met Northern Ireland on Sunday morning but Clayton’s side blew them away in establishing a 23-4 lead by the first interval.
They had height at both ends of the court in co-captain Evie McCafferty of vibrant Lurgan club Clann Eireann at goalkeeper and towering goal shooter Amelia Gordon, the youngest player in the squad who hasn’t long turned 14.
As at last year’s Euros, McCafferty was partnered in the back circle by the brilliant Anna Rice, the multi-talented daughter of former Northern Ireland head coach Elaine Rice, and she picked up Player of the Match for the opening game against Israel.
The individual award for the Isle of Man match went to Rice’s Crumlin clubmate Aoibheann Monaghan, with whom she not only plays NI Premier League netball but gaelic football for Antrim Under 16s and at adult level for last season’s Ulster Intermediate finalists Glenavy.
Shooter Sophie Burrows was Player of the Match against Switzerland on an evening when Northern Ireland scored the first 13 goals without reply, with mid-courter Aoibheann Donnelly, the other co-captain, receiving that accolade following the victory over Gibraltar.
Clayton’s number two at this tournament was NI vice-captain Fionnuala Toner, who is still playing at international level herself and juggling a high-powered professional life with serving on the Board of the NI Commonwealth Games Council and planning her wedding.
It is testament to Toner’s passion for Northern Ireland netball that she has chosen to get involved now in a coaching capacity despite her other sporting, professional and personal commitments and she has so much to offer going forward.
Whether she has the time to become Warriors supremo in the future remains to be seen but Toner is enjoying working with the young greens and she was encouraged by their efforts at this Euro tournament.
“The seven that finished against Gibraltar will all be back next year, so it’s an incredibly young squad with only three of the 12 who are here ineligible for the 2025 Euros,” she explained in Sunday’s post-match interview.
“We were expected to win our matches this week but we gave the players little targets for every quarter, defensively and in attack, which helped keep them focused because at that age concentration can come and go especially if you’re winning well on the scoreboard.”
Branding Gordon as ‘the baby of the team’, Toner described the young shooter as ‘an absolute sponge’ because of her desire to learn and promised that the work would be done by Netball NI to ensure this top prospect keeps developing in the years ahead.
The Northern Ireland assistant coach was also asked about goalkeeper McCafferty, who broke the hearts of opposition shooters throughout and is set to co-captain St Ronan’s College Lurgan’s Under 16s in their All Ireland Junior B gaelic football final this Saturday.
“Evie’s footwork can still improve a little bit more but she’s doing really well. She plays gaelic football back home, which does help with the defensive stuff, and she has a bright future ahead of her,” declared Toner.
The victorious squad had to leave for their flight before the end-of-tournament presentation ceremony so were absent as a young Gibraltar girl waved the Northern Ireland flag and a truncated version of the Londonderry Air AKA Danny Boy echoed around the venue.
Perennial winners England, who once again appropriated the UK national anthem, had just rounded off another European title triumph by beating runners-up Scotland 60-34 to follow wins against Republic of Ireland (81-14), UAE (74-30) and Wales (79-34).
Coaches Jenny Clayton (left) and Fionnuala Toner
Multi-tasker: Fionnuala Toner
