England vs Northern Ireland Triple header

The weekend was looking to develop younger players and give them some experience playing with teammates from other clubs. 

Players from eight different clubs were called up to represent England offering younger players some great experience facing a strong Northern Irish team. 

After a morning training session for both teams England had the chance to showcase their skill. 

With all games being played to five sets it was going to be a long and tiring weekend.

The first game on Saturday afternoon started well for England with the first two sets being a strong performance with a 25-13 and 25-11 result.

Wanting to continue this momentum England were able to clinch the third set 25-17. This performance was a confident display from England. 

Northern Ireland did come back in the fourth set with a close set ending 25-22 to England. 

The final set also went the way of England with a comfortable 25-17 final set. 

After this non-stop action from the first day both squads had earned a rest with two more games scheduled for Sunday. 

Northern Ireland added to their roster on Sunday with other players available. This strengthened their squad and posed a bigger threat to the English team. 

England, despite the new threat from Northern Ireland, were able to snatch the first three sets of the game 25-19, 25-16, 25-14. 

But the Northern Irish squad wanted to make the trip across the Irish Sea worthwhile with the fourth set going their way 25-18. 

But a 3-2 scoreline was dashed by England when they fought back in the fifth and won the final set 25-16.

With a huge weekend of ten sets already taking place team stamina and concentration was going to be tested in the final game of the weekend.

This final game was the closest of the whole weekend with the first three sets only having seven points between the teams.

Luke Atkinson, Malory Eagles 

England came from behind a couple of times in the first set to win 25-22. 

A nail biter in the second set ending the way of England 25-23 with Northern Ireland always close behind them. 

England made it a trio of victories with a third set victory 25-22. After winning the weekend England still wanted to make it a convincing victory making sure that they could gt a 5-0 victory. 

Stamina and fitness were required in the final two sets with a couple of unforced errors on both sides of the net. 

However, England dug in and took the final two sets 25-13 and 25-17. 

The weekend was a great success for the English team many of whom had their first experience with the international senior men's squad. 

England have a training camp this week ahead of the Novotel Cup in Luxembourg. They will face the host country as well as Austria and France.

Thank you to Northern Ireland and Leeds Gorse for making the weekend possible.