The Isle of Man women’s basketball team narrowly missed out on a bronze medal on the final day of action at the NatWest Island Games in Guernsey.

Already assured of at least matching their fourth place finish from Gibraltar four years ago, the Manx squad went up against hosts Guernsey at a packed Beau Sejour Leisure Centre on Friday morning.

The two teams had locked horns in their opening clash at this year’s Games when the Isle of Man had pushed the home side hard before narrowly losing out by 12 points.

And it was a similar story in the bronze medal match as the Manx players kept their opponents honest throughout and threatened to upset them in the chase for the final podium spot.

But in the end, spurred on by the vociferous home support, Guernsey ultimately came out on top with a 73-55 win to seal the bronze medal.

Despite the result, it had been another good week from the Isle of Man women’s basketballers and bodes well for the future.

Likewise, the Manx men’s team also battled well but were unfortunate to be drawn into what became referred to as the ‘Group of Death’ alongside Menorca, Cayman Islands, Guernsey and the Falkland Islands.

The week began promisingly for the men with only a narrow 11-point defeat to hosts Guernsey, but a tough loss to eventual silver medallists Menorca the next day proved a big blow to their hopes of progressing.

The Manx men responded in style with a dominant 110-58 victory over the Falklands to get their campaign up and running, but another defeat followed at the hands of a Caymans side that would go on to claim bronze medal which meant the Isle of Man couldn't progress past the group stages.