The Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team are heading back to Sheffield
this weekend to take part in the Women’s Play Off Weekend for the first time,
after finishing in second place in the league in just their second season of
competition.
Dragonettes Head Coach
Emma Pearson
The Play Off Weekend is a huge jamboree that sees the top teams in the
Women’s Elite League, Division 1 North and
South, Division 2 North and South – Elizabeth and Valerie sections - and the
U16 Girls League North and South meet in semi finals and finals to decide
overall national champions for each division.
It is a masterpiece of organisation as there are 15 games to fit in back
to back over the three days from Saturday to Monday.
Having finished in second place in the U16 North Division, the Dragonettes
will play the Slough-based Ice Bees - who finished top of the South Division –
in their semi-final facing off at 10.45 on Saturday.
North champions Whitley Bay will play South runners up Chelmsford
Rattlesnakes in the early start game at 9am and the two winners will meet in
the final at 12.30 on Sunday.
Talking about the Dragonettes achievements this year, Head Coach Emma
Pearson said:
“We are incredibly proud of the girls and the season they’ve had. We
knew it was always going to be tough to beat Whitley, but to only lose two
games all season — both against them — is a massive achievement and really
shows how far this group has come. It’s a relatively young team, and the development
and commitment they’ve shown throughout the year has been outstanding.
“Looking ahead to the playoffs, we know it’ll be a tough game against
the Ice Bees after they finished top of the southern division, but the team
will do everything we can to go out there, compete, and see where it takes us.”
The full schedule for the WNIHL Play Offs is as follows:
Saturday 23rd May
- 9am - U16 SF1: Whitley v Chelmsford
- 10.45am - U16 SF2: Ice Bees v Deeside
- 12.30pm - Elite SF1: Queen Bees v Whitley
- 2.45pm – Elite SF2: Guildford v Solihull
- 5pm - D1 SF1:Kingston v Fire Bees
- 7.15pm - D1 SF2: Swindon v Caledonia
Sunday 24th May
- 8.30am - D2V SF1: Kingston v Slough
- 10.30am - D2V SF2: Haringey v Whitley
- 12.30pm - U16 Final
- 2.15pm - Elite Final
- 4.30pm - D1 Final
- 6.45pm - D2E SF1: Caledonia v Coventry
- 8.45pm - D2E SF2: Invicta v Manchester
Monday 25th May
- 10am - D2V Final
- 12.15pm - D2E Final
To find out about tickets for the WNIHL Finals Weekend - and also the livestreaming option - in check out the EIH(A) ticketing portal HERE
