AFTER training together since November the Cardiff & Vale Netball Squad were confident going into the Wales Open Netball Championships in Cwmbran recently but knew how strong the other regions were.

The A squad had two of their toughest matches straight off but played superbly from the start to place their mark on the competition with two strong wins. The A squad performances grew stronger as the tournament progressed and won all the rest of their matches convincingly to be crowned Welsh Inter Area Champions for the fourth successive season.

The B squad however had a tougher competition with strong performances in defence and centre court but shooters struggling to find form. The squad worked hard and supported each other but failed to reach the runner up spot achieved the previous season.

This season was the strongest squad with girls being selected from clubs all over the region to train and then two squads of nine selected from the main squad to represent Cardiff & Vale in the Welsh Championships. The girls selected are:

A Squad

Natasha Charles - Leckwith Netball Club

Emma Lloyd - Dinas Netball Club

Vikki Healan - Leckwith Netball Club

Colette Johnson - Heath Angels Netball Club

Carys Griffin - Leckwith Netball Club

Rhian Grifffin - Leckwith Netball Club

Stephanie Cramp - Dinas Netball Club

Jamilla Abbott - Central Netball Club

Becky Oatley - Leckwith Netball Club

B Squad

Georgina Charles - Heath Angels Netball Club

Hannah Evans - Harriers Netball Club

Jemma Paynter - Dinas Netball Club

Sian Seaward - Central Netball Club

Lowri Norkett - Cardiff Met Netball

Kerry Jones - Spear Netball Club

Megan Cooper - Spear Netball Club

Hazel McAndrew - Heath Angels Netball Club

Hannah Gunning - Llandaff Netball Club

Coach: Melanie Hellerman - Dinas Netball Club

Manager: Heather Lewis - Spear Netball Club