After being postponed in Lent term, Ladies Netball Cuppers took place on Sunday (08/05). Matches were held in the morning at Barton Road, Murray Edwards, Jesus, and Downing College netball courts. Spirits felt high, and everyone was looking forward to playing again for the first time since the end of the last term.

The day started off with the group stages in order to decide on the qualifying teams. The first group included Murray Edwards 1s, Fitzwilliam, Hughes Hall/Lucy Cavendish and Sidney Sussex. Medwards 1s prevailed, winning two and drawing one of their games. Amongst the second group, consisting of Emmanuel, Churchill, Downing, and Wolfson, Churchill were successful. They qualified after winning all of their games. Pembroke, Medwards 2s, Trinity Hall and St. John’s made up the third group, with St. John’s qualifying after winning all of their games. Christ’s emerged victorious in the fourth group, after beating Jesus and Trinity and drawing with Newnham. Queens won in the fifth group after playing Robinson, Selwyn, and St. Catharine’s. Alongside these teams, three runners-up took the remaining quarter-final spots: Fitz, Jesus, and Emma.

The squads headed to Downing courts in the afternoon for a further two hours of netball under the sun. With six out of the eight teams in the quarter-finals being in the top division in the league system, it was obvious that it was going to be an entertaining afternoon. The quarter-finals saw Queens vs Jesus, Emma vs Medwards 1s, John’s vs Christ’s, and Fitz vs Churchill. Some “liquid” netball ensued as they battled it out to make it through to the semi-finals, and Jesus, Emma, John’s, and Fitz were successful in their ties.

In the semi-finals, Emma faced Jesus and maintained good pressure throughout the game. However, beginning the second half 5-2 down, Emma only managed two more goals in the second half and Jesus ran out 13-4 winners. Fitz and John’s both had great support from the sidelines, with their fellow team members and friends cheering them on. Fitz started off strong in the first half of the game, ending the half 3-1 up; so John’s dug deep, tightened up their defence, and went on the attack. As a result, Fitz scored no more goals in the second half and Johns won 7-3 overall.

After the semi-finals, the winning teams were given the opportunity to catch their breath and cool down before the grand finale, while Emma and Fitz fought it out for third and fourth place. Both teams played very well, but Emma had a clear edge over Fitz and won 8-4, giving Emma the bronze medal and seeing Fitz miss out on the podium.

By this point in the afternoon, everyone was ready for the face-off between John’s and Jesus — the two teams at the top of the league for this year. With Jesus surprisingly only qualifying to the finals as runners-up in their group, they appeared ready to prove themselves. As the defeated semi-finalists watched from the sidelines, cheers came at every goal, penalty, and sideline throw. With the score at half-time being 4-3 to Johns, it felt like it could have been anybody’s game. The second half of the final consisted of the two teams chasing each other’s scores, goal by goal, end to end. The umpires were firm but fair, and with Fitz and Emma now cheering in support of Jesus, the Jesus ladies managed to score one last goal before the whistle blew, leaving the overall score at 8-7.

Owed to the hard work of league coordinator Amelia Burdett, the numerous Blues players who umpired and played, and the support they were given by watchers, it’s safe to say it was a day supplemented by a lively atmosphere and filled with good netball.