This year, for the first time, the MK Netters were able to field a highly talented but young squad in the very competitive Southern Region Under 19 Championship.

The Lightning squad comprised of many of the under 16 girls who had excelled in finishing runners-up at the national Pontins tournament in the summer of 2007 and they were expecting to compete well against the stronger and more experienced opposition.

And once again they exceeded all expectations. Coached by Tracey Pennell they won 12 of their 14 games to win the championship.

The league contained strong clubs such as Phoenix and Bucks Swans and included sides from as far afield as Oxford, Southampton and Portsmouth.

Lightning stormed through the first half of the season, winning all seven games, scoring freely and conceding less than any other side.

A narrow defeat to Eagles in the first match after Christmas made the trips to Swans and Portsmouth crucial. But Lightning beat both teams by one point, the title clinched with one game to go with a 56-30 defeat of Trinity Oxford.

The squad included England international Stephanie Collard and the club also has representatives in both the Mavericks and Loughborough Lightning national talent squads as well as in the East Midlands Development squads.