North West Thunder win Girls’ U14 Inter Regional title

North West Thunder won the Swim England Inter Regional girls’ U14 crown for the first time at last weekend’s Championships in Walsall.

Having stormed through the group stage with three wins from three, they defeated 2015 champions London in the semi-finals before a 7-4 victory over North East in the final.

Thunder’s northern rivals proved a tough nut to crack in the final, holding them to 3-3 at half-time and 4-4 at the final interval.

But a final quarter hat-trick from Harriet Dickens went unanswered in the fourth quarter as North West became the fourth different winner of the girls’ U14 title in as many years.

Five great performances

“We were very proud of the girls for putting in five great team performances over the weekend,” said North West Thunder coach Izzy Howe.

“They put into practice the key skills we had developed during our Regional Academy sessions and stuck to the tactics we had prepared, which helped us to control and win each of our games.

“There is no doubt that having the players together for a tournament like this helps improve their individual performances, as well as those of the team.”

South East, who finished second behind North West Thunder in the group stage, won bronze with a 16-5 defeat of London.

Caitlin Silk led the charge for the South East, scoring 10 of their 16 goals, including five in the third quarter.

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  London: Sarah Ellis-Keeler

  Sarah Ellis-Keeler was named MVP for London at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  1/9
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  South West: Amber Southall

  Amber Southall was named MVP for the South West at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  2/9
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  North East: Emily Crossley

  Emily Crossley was named MVP for the North East at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  3/9
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  North East: Anna Motley

  Anna Motley from North East was top goalscorer at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  4/9
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  Scotland: Holly Corkill

  Holly Corkill was named MVP for Scotland at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  5/9
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  East Midlands: Kaymi Angle

  Kaymi Angle was named top goalkeeper for the East Midlands at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  6/9
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  East: Laura Page

  Laura Page was named MVP for the East at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  7/9
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  South East: Lucy-Mai Helliwell

  Lucy-Mai Helliwell was named MVP for the South East at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  8/9
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  East Midlands: Beau Cann-Livingstone

  Beau Cann-Livingstone was named MVP for the East Midlands at the 2017 Inter Regional U14 Championships.
  9/9

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Results and Group Table

Click or tap on ‘PDF’ to download a match sheet for each fixture.