Isle of Man Netball Junior League reports and results from games played on Sunday, February 26:

Under-15s Division One

Simcocks Silver Eagles 17, Route One Sparks 9

From the first whistle, it was clear that both Simcocks and Route One wanted the win.

Pressure throughout the court from both teams helped to prevent either team getting goal-scoring opportunities during the opening quarter which finished 2-1 to Eagles.

Each side made a change to their mid-court, which saw the entry of Isla Grainger (Simcocks) and Izzy Burns (Route One) to the C position. These changes proved successful and both girls helped to create a number of attacking openings to bring the ball down the court.

Good shooting from Umata Pugova and Breesha Jenkins (Eagles) was matched by Poppy Bregazzi and Iselin Keeling (Route One), resulting in the second quarter ending 6-5 to Eagles.

During the third period Eagles were able to work the ball through to attack, giving Macie Belle Kneen and Lily Kemp (Route One) lots to do to stop shooting opportunities. As they gained a number of rebounds and turnovers, Simcocks grew their lead to 11-8 at the end of the third.

It was great to see Robyn Hall (Route One) playing up from under-13s who was a key figure for Route One for the three quarters she was on.

In the fourth quarter, Eagles seemed to find another gear and stepped up their intensity to turnover a handful of Route One centres.

Isla Grainger was also key in the Eagles defence in turning the ball over, with the final score finishing 17-9. Player of the match was Isla Grainger (Simcocks) and Macie Belle Kneen (Route One).

Under-15s Division One

Ramsey Crimson 14,

Simcocks Silver Eagles 14

The match started well for Ramsey Crimson who scored the first goal after turning over Simcocks Silver Eagles’ centre pass.

As the latter were two players down, they had to work tirelessly to keep the game under control and great interceptions from goal defence Hannah Karen helped them to do this until their missing players arrived.

Good teamwork between the Ramsey shooters, Lily Walker and Alice Crellin, resulted in the game being 3-1 to them at the end of the opening quarter.

The northern team came out strongly at the beginning of the second period with great marking in all areas putting pressure on Silver Eagles’ centre passes.

Ella Cain, Simcocks’ centre, made some great interceptions and Ramsey WD Holly O’Donnell helped her team by making great space to bring the ball up court. At the end of the second quarter the score was 7-4 to Ramsey.

At the start of the third period, two great interceptions from Eagles’ wing attack Grace Taylor led to goals for Simcocks and by the end of the third quarter the score was 11-8 to Ramsey.

With everything to play for, Eagles came out strongly in the final quarter and two quick turnovers followed by strong work in all areas of the court resulted in them pulling the score back to 14-14 at the end of the game.

Players of the match were Alice Crellin (Ramsey Crimsons) and Ella Cain (Simcocks Silver Eagles).

Under-15s Division Two

Manx Gems Jades 7,

Simcocks Black Eagles 18

Manx Gems knew this was going to be a tough game to win but they won the coin toss and got the game underway with the first centre pass.

Simcocks Black Eagles took control of the game and the lead in the first quarter but Gems didn’t give up and started making it hard for their opponents to get the ball down the court.

It was 6-1 to Eagles at the start of the second quarter and, with a couple of changes for Gems, they saw the ball moving through midcourt to their shooters Aalin Lyon and Darcy Syme.

Black Eagles made it difficult for Gems as they stuck hard to their opponents but Jess Reay and Ffinlo Thomas in defence were strong, forcing them to think about their movement and passes. The score stood at 12-3 to Simcocks going into half-time.

In the third quarter Gabe Campbell and Illiam Thomas moved the ball quickly for Gems and, with some nice shots from Erin Morgan, Gems won the quarter but Eagles were still leading 13-7.

In the fourth period Gems just couldn’t get the ball through the court to their shooters and, although defence was strong for Gems with some great play from Seren Kirkpatrick, Eagles managed to find the net and keep the lead, finishing 18-7 to them.

Both teams worked incredibly hard throughout the game with some great shooting from Lola Hornby-Wheeler who was player of the match for Eagles and some excellent intercepts for Ffinlo Thomas who took the plaudits for Gems.

Manx Gems would like to thank sponsor Island Tyres and Autocare for its support.

Under-13s Division Two

Castletown Comets 5,

Route One Atoms 17

It was a tough match for Comets with three of their usual players unavailable. Heni and Faith, who play in the Galaxies team, stepped up to fill in the gap, while Emily F did likewise at GS.

Comets got off to a good start and worked well as Tilly and Connie made many interceptions to limit Route One’s attack.

Faith settled in at C and worked well to feed the attack, while Sienna worked really hard against her tall opponent as the opening quarter ended 2-1 to Route One.

A switch around by Route One and changes to the Comets line-up made a big difference as Neve M stepped in at C, Madi switched to WD and Heni came on at WA.

But Route One GA Iselin was unstoppable and the team got into a good routine of feeding her well. Comets worked really hard to bring the ball through to the circle but the Route One defence was too strong and the score at half-time was 10-1.

For the third quarter, Comets switched back to their usual positions and the attack settled in nicely.

Sienna worked hard to get around her tall player and to get to the post, while Emily worked well to feed her in the circle.

Faith worked hard as the Route One centre Robyn was involved in a lot of play. Tilly and Neve K performed really well in defence and disrupted many chances at goal from Route One.

As a result Comets won this quarter 3-2 and the score at the end of the third was 12-4.

For the last quarter, Route One switched the GA back to the same as in quarter two. Neve K, Neve M and Tilly disrupted many of the feeds into the GA and GS to limit Route One to only five goals in this period.

Madi, Heni and Sienna battled tirelessly to bring the ball through the court to the circle but in the end the height of their opponents players and missing key players for Comets meant Route One came away with the win.

The girls worked really hard and never gave up - onwards and upwards for Comets’ future games.