Isle of Man junior netballers clinched an excellent silver medal at the Europe Netball Under-17 Challenge in Gibraltar over the weekend.

The Manx team got their tournament off to a flying start by beating Switzerland in their opening match on Friday morning.

The Isle of Man flew out of the traps and opened up a 17-8 lead by the end of the first quarter, which they then stretched out to 28-16 by the time half-time arrived.

The game continued in much the same vein in the second half as the lead was extended out to 41-25 after a blistering third quarter, before the Manx rubberstamped a 59-30 win in the fourth and final quarter.

The junior Rams then went up against the host nation later the same day afternoon and again produced a good performance as they ran out 44-23 winners against the Gibraltarians.

The Rams raced into an early 14-5 lead and were 24-14 ahead at half-time.

That gap increased to 35-19 by the end of the third quarter before the Manx side enjoyed a fine fourth period as they restricted the hosts to only four more goals while scoring another nine themselves.

The result left the Isle of Man side in a strong position heading into the weekend games but next up was a tough challenge against Northern Ireland.

Despite battling hard throughout, it was not to be for the Manx team as their opponents proved too strong, running out 56-24 winners.

But the Isle of Man netballers bounced back in style in their fourth and final game against Israel on Sunday morning.

The island side edged the first quarter to open up a 10-7 lead, but the second period belonged to the Manx girls as they extended the advantage out to 27-12 by half-time.

A ruthless third quarter left the Isle of Man 44-13 in front before they rounded off a convincing 58-22 victory to seal second place and a well-deserved silver medal.