FOLLOWING their recent success in Blackpool, Burnley's under 11s played Rishton in friendly fixtures at Towneley High School and it brought together two of the biggest names in netball.

For Burnley were coached by Northern Ireland coach Marion Lofthouse while current England star Anna Newell was in charge of Rishton.

The recently-formed Burnley team played very competitive netball and they displayed some very mature play in their 7-1 victory.

Burnley used the width of the court to their advantage with some good passing out of defence into attack with Serena Spencer and Danielle Moores in fine form.

But Rishton's captain Victoria McDonald shadowed Spencer and kept her shots to a minimum while Natalie Raith as goal defence also kept Burnley on their toes. In another friendly fixture on the night the Burnley under 10s scrapped a narrow 7-4 win against Rishton under 10s with the shooting partnership of Burnley's Merrill Barker and Charlotte Thompson proving to be too much for the visitors.

The Burnley team worked hard from defence to attack with Annie Kelly, who was celebrating her 10th birthday, playing well as wing defence intercepting any lose balls.

Burnley are holding a netball skills award day on April 7-8 at Towneley astro turf in an event which is sponsored by Coca Cola. The club will be looking for talented youngsters for their junior school of excellence.

The club is also on the lookout for sponsorship to buy strips for their sides. Anyone interested in the netball skills awards day or sponsoring the club should contact Sharon Doney on 01282 424081 or Linda Moores on 01282 779268.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.