29th April

The Hampton Netball season officially finished this evening with the cup final. I took the camera along and tried to document the evening - particularly challenging since we spectators were confined to an area outside of the fence.

The team has lost only two fixtures all season and were looking forward to the final. There was a good turnout of supporters, probably the biggest crowd that I've seen at a club netball game, and the atmosphere was tense.

The team huddled for their final words before the game started, knowing that this was their last competitive game for a few months. They were very focused and the pace was intense from the start.

Playing with a 5-goal handicap as their opponents were from the division below them in the league, the game see-sawed back and forth at a furious pace, especially through the first half. As the minutes ticked by of the second period, Hampton kept coming close to catching their opponents from Cobham NC but never quite managed to make up the handicap despite their heroic efforts, losing by four goals, albeit that that was a moral 1-goal victory.

A nerve-jangling evening and perhaps the most exciting game of netball I've ever seen. Much better than just sitting at home watching the telly! For more photos of the game, click here.