Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Saints go unbeaten in two leagues
One of St Andrew’s star players has spoken of her pride after the team secured two unbeaten league campaigns in just one season.
Nicola Lafferty, who plays goal shoot for the Coatbridge club, is a mainstay in the squad which secured the fourth division title in the Glasgow Netball Association set-up, while simultaneously triumphing in Edinburgh’s fifth division.
Not only did they secure success while competing on two fronts, they remarkably managed to do so without losing a single game.
A jubilant Nicola, whose mum Anne coaches the side, told the Advertiser: “We are delighted to have won promotion in both leagues and over the moon to have done it without losing a game.
“We’ve worked so hard but at the start of the season never thought we would have gone on to do this.
“The main emotion is pride because we wanted to show what we feel we’re capable of.
“I think going unbeaten in both leagues has done that.
“We played 12 games in Edinburgh and 14 in Glasgow. I’d say we won every match but we had to settle for a draw in one of them because it was cancelled due to the snow earlier this year. It was not able to be rearranged so the match was drawn.”
She continued: “We came together as a club this year and concentrated on our own game.
“We weren’t really sure what to expect from the other clubs but we knew how well we could perform so we focused on that.
“When it was confirmed we had won it with an unbeaten record there was so much elation and pride among the team.”
The club train at St Andrew’s High School on Wednesday nights, with the hall booked from 5pm until 9pm to cater for all age groups.
Nicola, who also acts as club secretary, said developing youth players is an important aspect at the club and mixing younger talent with experience will be important going into next season.
She said: “We have a strong youth set-up and our under17s train with the first team.
“If we don’t have a solid base of juniors then we’ll struggle to replace the oldies in the squad.
“We have a great team spirit though and the younger ones are a part of that.
“It really contributed to our success last season and hopefully that will continue into next year because the standard will be higher.”