Isle of Man Netball Santander International Senior League reports from games played on Sunday, December 11:

Championship

Young Farmers 26,

Marbree Missfits 24

This was always going to be a tough game with Young Farmers and Missfits being training partners.

But Farmers started strongly with a quick turnover from Missfits’ first centre pass. Some excellent passing from Rachel Osborne (C) and Suz Slater (WA) across the court and into the circle saw some great first shots from Dani Kelly (GS), resulting in a strong Farmers lead.

Missfits’ Hannah Quinn (WA) and Suzanne Gray (WD) worked well to provide plenty of passing options down the court. Persistent pressure from Farmers defence Lucy Parsons (GK) and Hannah Moore (GD) meant the first quarter ended 8-5 to Farmers.

They continued to lead going into the second period, with Nicci Cain consistently shooting well. Farmers’ tall defensive duo, Lucy Parsons (GK) and Hannah Moore (GD), worked well together to force the Missifts shooters out of their comfort zones and were quick to get the rebounds of missed shots.

As the quarter went on, Missfits grew into the game and started using Farmers’ errors to their advantage, with the quarter finishing 15-9.

Rachel Kewley (WA) and Emma Riley (C) had worked well to get passes into the circle for shooters Christie Sayle (GA) and Sophie Wade (GA) to convert.

Missfits made some positional switches going into the third quarter, found a better flow across the court and started to put the pressure on Farmers. Still, the latter had excellent movement aided by Louise Slater (WA) who sped the ball down the court and into the shooters, ensuring they capitalised on any minor Missfits mistake, though this was not made easy with Abi Robson (WD) hot on the ball.

With both centres strongly contesting the ball at every opportunity it made for an exciting watch, with Kewley (WA) providing some excellent feeds and picking up any stray balls.

The last period saw more fast-paced play and Missfits started taking control of the game. Missfits’ Lizzie Beard (GA) worked hard to get around Moore (GD) and managed to pull the score closer after scoring 10 goals.

Missfits came out with a strong sense of determination, with the defensive circle of Amy Kneale (GK) and Lisa Quilliam (GD) gaining repeated turnovers in the circle.

Farmers struggled to break the momentum in the final quarter but still finished with a strong two-goal lead to end the game 26-24 ahead.

A well-fought match between the two teams, with Alice Forster (WD) rightly earning herself player of the match.

Division One

Suntera Global Ballasalla Drifts 35, Manx Gems

Emeralds 22

Ballasalla Drifts got off to a great start with Lily Gell and Lucy Radcliffe working well together in the shooting circle following some good mid-court play.

This proved to be a busy first quarter for Abigail McCullough, who was playing up for Manx Gems Emeralds as GK, alongside the more experienced Jess Hawkins as GD. Drifts ran away with the first quarter, ending 10-2 in their favour.

With no positional changes going into the second period, Drifts continued their dominance both in attack and defensively, therefore at half-time the score was 16-6.

Both teams made some changes going into the third quarter, with Drifts’ Gemma Kermode coming on as WD and Annabelle Clague switching from WD to WA.

Emeralds’ Sarah Curphey moved into C and Dawn Quinn to WA, while Alex Wilson-Spratt and Di Cregeen also switched in the attacking circle to GA and GS respectively.

These changes brought around a change in fortune with Emeralds closing the gap slightly by the end of the third quarter to 23-15.

Emeralds continued their fight back in the final period with McCullough settling into the game, making a couple of great interceptions.

Despite Emeralds’ resilience and good shooting by Cregeen, it was Drifts who took the three points, with GA Lily Gell receiving the player of the match plaudits for her on-form shooting. Final score 25-22.

Division Two

Castletown Jets 19,

Manx Gems Corals, 17

What an amazing game this was to watch, with the Castletown Jets girls triumphing through sheer grit and determination.

Jets were slow to get on the scoreboard to start with as Gems GK Tracey Gelling didn’t make it easy at all.

The Gems ethos of defending hard started from the get go and the goals just did not want to drop in the first quarter for the Jets.

But at the other end of the court Gems GA Lucy Brown and GS Poppy Brown made some lovely shots and the score at the end of quarter one was 6-2 to Gems.

After a quick chat at quarter-time, Jets started to pick up some pace and the game started to get exciting as Jets GD Summer Sadler and GK Immi Beech produced turnover after turnover.

The score for the second quarter was 4-4, giving an overall score of 10-6 to Gems.

The third period started with Gems fumbling some passes which Jets took advantage of as WD Kate Potts made a fabulous interception at the Gems end which resulted in a goal.

Jets continued to work hard to convert the loose balls to goals as WA Bree Collister and C Mollie Zybert fed the ball wonderfully to GS Ruby Watterson and GA Amy Potts.

Jets won that quarter 6-3, bringing the score at the end of the period to 13-12 to Gems, therefore it was all to play for in the last quarter.

The spectators were on the edge of their seats as the ball went from end-to-end and the two teams went goal-for-goal.

In the last two minutes a vital interception was made by Jets who took the lead by one goal, then with 15 seconds to go GA Amy Potts scored the goal that sealed the deal and the final score was 19-17 to Castletown Jets.

The player of the match award went to Tracey Gelling of Manx Gems Corals.

l Isle of Man Netball is holding a Mixed Fast Five Charity Tournament this coming Sunday at the NSC between 9am-1pm.

l Santander International Senior League fixtures will resume in the new year.