Oldham hit the ground running

Oldham Netball juniors squads

NETBALL:

UNBEATEN Oldham under-13s made a flying start to the new season with victory at a tournament in Nottingham.

After winning all six of their qualifying games on day one, Oldham had a scare against Parkside — they were forced into some uncharacteristic errors — before emerging narrow 6-5 victors.

Another slow start meant Oldham had to settle for a 4-4 draw with Poole, but they were back to their best in the next three games to set up a winner-takes-all decider against local rivals Tameside.

Tameside started strongly and went two goals ahead.

But Oldham dug in and they had secured a 5-4 lead by the midway point of the match.

They kept Tameside at bay in the second half with some composed play to run out 8-6 winners.

Meanwhile, Oldham’s under-14s side had to settle for runners-up spot at Nottingham.

Despite impressing in the qualifiers — they won all seven matches — a loss on the second day meant they had to beat Tameside to bag second place.

The first half went goal-for-goal, but a substitution at half-time — Helen Schofield came on at wing defence — was pivotal as they went on to win 7-5.