Isle of Man Netball held its annual Judi Clark-Wilson Charity Cup Day at the National Sports Centre on Sunday.

Judi Clark-Wilson founded the Manx Netball Association in 1984 and for more than 36 years her dedication and passion to the sport was unwavering. Judi was a friend to many and a supporter of all things netball.

The Charity Cup Day sees the teams that have finished top of each league play the side that finished second in the table, therefore each fixture is fiercely contested.

The association also announced its charity of the year which, as voted for by members, will be Hospice Isle of Man in 2023.

ATLA Panthers 26,

Castletown Jets 23

With their previous meeting being the last game of the league season and Castletown Jets losing out only by three goals on that occasion, this was always going to be an exciting battle.

Both teams took a while to get into the game with most of the possession being held within the centre third, going back and forth between the two teams.

With both GAs Bree Collister (Castletown Jets) and Ashleigh Farrah-Nicolson (ATLA) settling and creating some opportunities for their teams, the game started going goal-for-goal and at the end of the first quarter Atla were up by one with the score 6-5.

Castletown made some changes at quarter-time with Amy Potts coming on at GA and Kate Potts at WD, while Atla chose to remain the same. It was a real fight for possession and the ball went up and down the court without a goal being scored for quite a while.

This quarter was a strong one for the defensive duo of Immi Beech and Summer Sadler for Castletown, applying a lot of pressure on the shooters and coming out with turnovers. Saffy Cregeen WA for Atla was straight on the defence and turning over the ball early, gaining possession back for her team and creating opportunities.

Ruby Watterson GS for Town really stepped it up in this quarter, conducting the circle and scoring some long shots.

With a little under 90 seconds left of the quarter, there was a critical interception from Summer Sadler but Town failed to convert from it and possession changed once again. Defence worked hard to stop Atla scoring which would have seen them two goals ahead and Castletown once again took possession and delivered the ball to Amy Potts to make it a 10-all game at half-time.

Castletown made some further changes at the interval and Atla brought on a fresh set of legs in Sarah Vorster at centre. Atla pushed through this quarter with the score going into the fourth period sitting at 25-18 to them.

Both teams stepped up another gear in the final quarter, Atla defending their lead and Castletown going after the win. Both teams worked tirelessly to the end and it was a fantastic quarter for Town, but it wasn’t quite enough to take the win and Panthers came out victorious 26-23.

Ramsey Blacks 25,

Another contest with a slow start, the pressure of the game getting to both teams.

It was Ballasalla D that started to take control of the game early with the calmness of instruction from Jo Hicks (GS), offering support at both ends, being a safe pair of hands in attack and a great communicator and encourager for her defensive unit.

Lily Gell pulled out some dynamic moves and used her height to gain over balls and rebounds. Ramsey did start to make turnovers, with Sarah Nash positioning herself brilliantly to take any ball that wasn’t totally accurate and any shots that spilled.

The northerners struggled to get the ball out of the defensive third for a period of this quarter and the defenders saw the ball coming back at them again and again, this leaving Ballasalla D up after the first quarter 8-4.

The second period saw the entry of Aoibh Nash into GD, possibly to add some more height into the defensive unit which worked for Ramsey as Ballasalla D struggled to get the ball to their shooters as freely.

Ramsey started to make their transitions from defensive possession to attack quicker, using long balls and catching the Ballasalla D team on the back foot, getting the ball to their shooters.

With one minute to go in the first half Ballasalla were holding onto the lead by one goal and Ramsey had the centre pass. A huge turnover made by Amy Gelling saw Ballasalla defend their lead, but the southerners were unable to hold on and their opponents won back possession before grabbing an equaliser to leave the score 12 apiece at half-time.

Ballasalla D made some changes, with Gemma Kermode taking to the court at WD, Annabelle Clague moving into the WA and Rachel Hopkinson entering the shooting circle at GA.

Ballasalla looked to take control in the early stages of this quarter, with Hopkinson demanding space in the shooting circle and making some great drives under the post and scoring a few early goals.

There were some brilliant defensive plays during the period, with Amber Pullen taking some wonderful circle edge interceptions which was met down the court with a flying interception by Clare Crowe who didn’t take possession but managed to give her team time to set up.

With four minutes of the game left Ramsey were up by four goals and continued to make the quick transitions using the long ball down court and kept ticking away, while Ballasalla D kept chipping away at the scoreline, gaining bit by bit and bringing it to within one goal.

Unfortunately for Ballasalla D when the final whistle went Ramsey were still one goal ahead and the eventual winners of a fantastic game of netball.

Simcocks Gold 38,

Castletown Spaniards 31

Both teams came out of the blocks looking to take this game.

There was some slick movement through the court from Simcocks and some wonderful patience shown by Castletown Spaniards, both very different styles but both equally as effective.

The rotation of the Gold shooters saw plenty of options and offers for the WA Ella Page and C Dionne Wall to get the ball in for a shooting opportunity which GS Aailish Kelly and GA Ella Crowe both took on the challenge and sank their shots.

At the other end, the holding of GS Zoe Ludford-Brooks and the quick entry into the shooting circle of Sara Collister, splitting the defence and opening up the back space, plus Kerry Kelly comfortably releasing the ball into space saw Zoe Ludford-Brooks keep the shots ticking for Castletown.

With both shooting circles doing what needed to be done, the first quarter really was a battle of the midcourt. This saw Gold C Dionne Wall apply constant pressure and come out with two clean interceptions which took her team two ahead after the opening period, 9-7.

Both teams continued to battle, with both defensive circles having to be creative in ways to try and disrupt the attacking play happening in front of them.

Quite possibly the most exciting moment of the game came at the end of the third quarter when both sides were level at 25-all when Sara Collister was awarded a penalty shot from distance after the quarter-time whistle. If a penalty is awarded in the shooting circle, the shot is allowed to be taken even after the time is called.

All pressure was on the shot to put Castletown ahead going into the fourth quarter, everyone held their breath as the ball went through the net and the southerners were in the lead.

The final quarter really ended up being a battle of legs, who could give more for another quarter.

Both teams battled to take the win but it was Simcocks Gold that had the extra to give as all players gave it everything during a real showcase of netball.

Simcocks Red 38,

Ballasalla B 15

This was always going to be a tough task for Ballasalla B, with Simcocks Red being undefeated for a number of years now.

This was evident in the first minutes of play with Red scoring a number of unanswered goals. Ballasalla were not without chances though and there were some great passages of play orchestrated by the captain Ashley Hall (WA), but they were unable to convert and get on the scoreboard.

Ballasalla started to settle towards the end of the first quarter but it was probably too late for them to have any real impact on the final outcome.

Simcocks certainly had to work for possession and to retain it, while there was a fabulous battle between Rachel Johnstone for Simcocks and Mairi Harrison for Ballasalla - a great match-up for the spectators.

With Simcocks GD Kenzie Pizzey forcing Ballasalla GA Danielle Murphy higher up the court, it looked like Red were looking to isolate GS Gemma Kirkham and restrict offers, meaning the only option was early release into the circle.

But with Natalie Swales having a fantastic game, she took the long balls meant for Kirkham out of the air, showing a real determination and earning her the player of the match plaudits.

Another outstanding performance of the second half was Becky Dunne at GD for Ballasalla against the formidable Simcocks GA Chloe Swales - as they started to adapt to play, there were some great battles for space between the two.

This was a real showcase of defence through the court with both teams managing to keep the scoreline fairly low for the standard of play.

Each side made changes throughout the game and Simcocks continued to put out a strong display in each quarter while Ballasalla battled to the end, making it a great game to watch.

The final score was a convincing win for Simcocks Reds, finishing another season with a double.

l Organisers wish to thank everyone who gives their time to make Isle of Man Netball a success.