The England Handball National Championships were held over the weekend of 5/6th May and with Stroud making the final for both the U19 girls and U16 girls they were determined to try and bring home the first silverware for the club.

Saturday saw the U19s face current Champions Olympia Cannock in a match closer than anybody could have predicted.

Any nervousness quickly disappeared as a strong Stroud defence saw Cannock’s first shot go high and on the counter attack Stroud notched up the first goal.

The next 30 minutes saw goals being evenly traded with Stroud going in to the half time break leading 11-10.

The second half saw much of the same with Cannock just getting the better of the young Stroud team and with 5 minutes to play had edged the lean by 2 goals.

More strong defending and solid attacking allowed the Stroud girls to draw level again but in the final minute of play Cannock’s top goal scorer managed to break through the defence and with Stroud unable to respond in the time remaining saw the game go to Cannock 24-23.

Sunday saw most of the team back again for the U16 Final and with yesterday’s defeat behind them were keen ensure that history wasn’t repeated.

Their opposition on Sunday were Ealing who had shown their strength by winning their last 4 qualifying games with a player down and 2 of their top players out injured.

The first half began looking like the girls were not destined to win with the Ealing goalkeeper saving 7 shots and another 7 being saved by the goalposts but going in to half time Stroud were just ahead 4-3.

Ealing came out fighting in the second half and took the lead before Stroud managed to get back to 7-7.

With Stroud goalkeeper Hannah Arnold making some excellent saves and the Stroud attack converting their chances they eventually won 13-10.

With a total of 7 goals the Most Valuable Player trophy was awarded to Stroud’s Holly Luke.