The Ipswich Handball U16 girls took park in a friendly tournament at The Copper Box Arena at the Olympic Park in Stratford – and came back triumphant.

The other teams involved were Brighton, Ealing and Cambridge who, with the exception of Ealing, had not had much previous match experience.

The girls started the tournament against Brighton and having showed many signs of nerves before the match they immediately took control and won 8-0.

Ealing were the Suffolk squad’s strongest opponents – having been 3-1 down, Ipswich came back very strongly to get the scores level at full-time and draw 3-3.

Cambridge had grown in confidence as the tournament went on but Ipswich overcame it and went on to win the match 6-2.

That meant Ipswich won the tournament on goal difference, a terrific result.

The U16 girls have only been playing together since September last year, but five of the squad are playing for the East of England Regional Academy and it is testimony to the coaches of the club how far these girls have come on.

The club is always looking for new players, both boys and girls.

They meet on a Wednesday evening at Suffolk One (Juniors 6.15pm–7.15pm) and then Year 8 and above from 6.45pm until 8.30pm.

If you’re interested, please feel free to go along and give the sport a go.