The Isle of Man’s first foray into international netball has been a successful one, the Manx beating United Arab Emirates 57-47 in Thursday’s Netball Europe Open Challenge opener in Gibraltar.

The Manx side were ahead almost from the first whistle, the islanders surviving a fourth-quarter comeback by the UAE to win by 10 in the end.

The match marked the Isle of Man’s first since splitting from England Netball last year and becoming a member of the International Netball Federation.

The Hooded Ram-sponsored side face world number 22, the Republic of Ireland, in their second match of the competition on Friday at 6pm (BST). Further games follow against the hosts and Israel on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

All matches are being streamed on Netball Europe’s Facebook and YouTube pages.