Isle of Man Netball’s 2022-23 Senior League season got underway in earnest on Sunday.

Premiership

Simcocks Blue Eagles 14,

Simcocks Red Eagles 53

The first game of the Premiership campaign saw both Simcocks teams take to the court with player changes on either side.

From the starting whistle both teams were taking ball to goal but, with some great defence from Pizzey and Swales, the Reds made some early turnovers and finished the first quarter in the lead.

In the second period there were a few changes for the Blues, with Sarah Corkish joining Irving in the shooting circle Reds maintained their scoring streak and ended the first half 24-5 in front.

As the latter continued to build on their lead, pressure from the Blues’ mid-court and defence ensured they had to work for every ball.

Claire Belcher-Smith and Helen Mason continued to battle through the mid-court to bring the ball to the Blues’ shooting third, making Claire Mason and Leece work hard.

A final-quarter circle change for Blues saw Kemp join Irving, making the Reds defence dog deep to prevent goals.

Claire Mason and Rachel Johnstone continued to connect well in the midcourt for the Reds, delivering safe balls into Swales and Harris to convert. But with Keggin, Danes and Charmer applying pressure, it meant this was not an easy task.

The game finished with Simcocks Reds winning 53-14, with player of the match going to Johnstone.

Manx Gems Sapphires 21, Route One Turbos 29

Island Tyres and Autocare Manx Gems Sapphires played Route One Turbos in the two teams’ first match of the new season.

To begin with, both sides were neck-and-neck with shooters Gems’ Katie Keenan (GS) and Turbos’ Ella Webster (GS) making no errors.

Route One began to take the lead, but a strong defence from Gems meant they fought back and the trio of Jodie Vaughan (GK), Hannah Halsall (GD) and Emma Leith (WD) fed the ball up the court which meant the first quarter ended 7-7.

The second period was also close, as centres Ashleigh Baines (Gems) and Cassidy Pizzey (Route One) battled to keep the ball with their respective teams. This quarter ended 14-14.

Going into the third period, Phoebe Jones took up GA and, despite being out of position, put up a good fight to score goals.

Abigail Campbell stepped up as WD for Gems, battling against Turbos’ Alice Willoughby (WA), but a strong defence for Turbos included the likes of LisaMcMullin (GK) who proved valuable, with this quarter ending 22-17 to the latter side.

Both teams were in it to win the last quarter and Gems’ Alisha Fitzgerald (GA) kept up her errorless shooting, but the game ended 29-21 to Route One Turbos.

Hannah Halsall’s (Gems) regular interceptions and rebounds were rewarded with the player of the match accolade.

Division One

Suntera Global Ballasalla Earthquakes 7, Manx Gems Emeralds 33

Manx Gems Emeralds dominated play against a new Suntera Global Ballasalla Earthquakes team from the start, with strong passing into the circle to the shooters despite close marking in defence from GD Charlotte Brooks and GK Gemma White.

This brought the score at the end of the first quarter to seven goals to nil.

Ballasalla Earthquakes started strong again in the centre court, with Eliza Raynor in WA passing to Rebecca Hands at GA to score.

But they were unable to hold off defence from GD Di Cregeen and GK Sabrina Crowe and their effective team play into GA Alex Wilson-Spratt and GS Trudi Halsall.

The score at half-time saw Manx Gems Emeralds leading by 19 goals to one.

Earthquakes made some changes in the second half, bringing Charlotte Brooks to WD and Alicia Kewley to GD, and this quarter saw the teams more evenly matched with great connections in the attacking third to Lily Elson at GS to bring the score to 25-4.

The southerners continued to work hard together but were no match for Manx Gems Emeralds and the final whistle saw the score standing at 33-7, with Di Cregeen gaining a well-deserved player of the match.

Division Two

Castletown Vikings 28,

Ramsey Scarlets 10

Ramsey Scarlets had the first centre of the match and straight away Castletown’s Michelle Blythe (GD) got the turnover.

This set the tone for the match as her side took the first three goals and the opening quarter ended 6-3 to Castletown.

The second period saw a change in the southerners’ shooting circle as the rotation throughout the match of Ruby Watterson, Bree Collister and Amy Potts proved to be a great success for the Viking teams.

As hard as Ramsey’s defence worked, especially from Winnie Davies in WD, the score was 10-4 going into the second half.

Ramsey made a change in their shooting circle which saw Nicole Corlett (GA) put up the first two goals of the third quarter.

But Castletown’s flow through mid-court, led by captain Ciara Whelan along with the efforts of Isabelle Cutts (WD) and Sophie Bowers (WA), saw the southerners’ lead extend to 19-7.

In the final quarter, Vikings continued with the great teamwork that they had shown throughout the match and they ran out 28-10 winners.

Player of the match went to Castletown’s Sophie Bowers whose great play and feeding into the shooting circle saw her efforts rewarded.