Isle of Man’s women’s side finished second at the England Hockey North Counties Tournament in Wakefield at the weekend.

As reigning champions, the islanders had a hard task in front of them against opposition from Lancashire, Durham, Yorkshire, Cumbria and Cheshire.

The Manx played Lancs first which historically has been a close game. The islanders went 1-0 down against the run of play, but this did not deter the Isle of Man. Some lovely team play and penalty corner routines gave the island a 3-1 half-time lead.

A fourth was added in the second half when a penalty corner dropped to Imogen Manning to drag flick it into the right-hand corner.

The other Manx goalscorers in the opening game were Sarah Blackman (2) and a first-half rocket from Freya Duchars.

Second up were Durham who were strong at the back and the Manx had to create opportunities on the break. Nevertheless, two across-the-goal strikes from Kim Carney and Maddy Dunlop gave the island the lead.

Carney followed with a second to make it 3-0 at the break.

In the second half the Manx should have taken more chances, but the fourth goal was worth the wait as it was later voted the side’s goal of the tournament. It was a whole team effort, with the ball being transferred round the back and passed through the opposition. Using the electric speed of the Manx forward line they were able to carve up the Durham defence, Carney picking the ball up at the top D and passing to Blackman to tap in at the back post.

Durham did get one back in the last few minutes to make the final score 4-1.

Isle of Man were then straight back on to play Yorkshire who had won the tournament in six of the last seven years.

This was a tough ask for the Manx after Yorks had had a game off for recovery. The play was end-to-end with neither team getting any joy from open play. Both keepers were in fine fettle with Rachel Overman pulling off some amazing saves.

Yorks took the lead with a well-executed penalty corner just before half-time.

Yorkshire started the brighter in the second half and scored again from a penalty corner.

The Manx women continued to battle and as the game entered its final few minutes, Freya Duchars stepped up and fired a straight strike home from a penalty corner to make it 2-1.

If the Manx had another five or so minutes they could have taken another goal and got a well-deserved draw but it wasn’t to be and the final whistle went at 2-1.

Into the second day of competition, the Manx knew that they would have to hope that Yorkshire were to lose a game at least if they were to win.

The Manx made a good against Cumbria and were 2-0 up at half-time thanks to Amy Stoutt’s first senior goal and another strike from the ever-present Duchars who was later voted Player of the Tournament for the Isle of Man.

A miss penalty flick in the second half could have made it 3-0.

This gave Cumbria a little spark of hope and a fine run from one of their players led to the score finishing 2-1.

With other results going Yorkshire’s way during this time, the Manx went into the last game against Cheshire knowing that it had to be a win to even push them close.

With tiring legs on both sides, the Manx team had the majority of the chances and Cheshire’s keeper kept them in it for a long time until a broken down short-corner landed in the path of Zoë Shimmin who sunk the ball into the net.

The strong defence of the island team meant any breaks were dealt with and the Manx finished off the game with a clean sheet.

Yorkshire beat bottom-of-the-table Durham in their final game to take the title back by one point as the Isle of Man finished a close second and showed they continue to be a force to be reckoned with.