Santander International Senior League Match Reports - 2 October 2022

Premiership

Suntera Global Ballasalla Avalanches, 16 v Simcocks Red Eagles,37

POTM - Ellan Charmer for Simcocks Red Eagles

It was an unusual line up for the Simcocks Red team that took to court, with some of their key players absent. Simcocks started at a great pace with the ball flowing through the mid court of Claire Mason (WA), Rachel Johnstone (C) and Hannah Leece (WD) with ease. They were able to feed the ball into the circle with ease and despite some great defensive touches from Sunterra Ballasalla’s Zoe Kirkham (GK) and Ella Carridge (GD) the score at quarter time was 15-4 in Simcock’s favour.

Sunterra Ballasalla returned to court with a sense of purpose, and whilst it was difficult to find players to pass to, the mid court of Rachel Quayle (WD), Jane Ryder-Clague (C) and Clair Barks (WA)worked tirelessly to find an opening. This slowed the scoring down and the score for that quarter was only 6-4 to Simcocks with the overall score 21-8.

The intensity remained into the third quarter with the Simcocks shooters of Poppy Irving (GS) and Aalish Harris (GA) working well together, in what must be a relatively new pairing. The ball was passed around the edge of the circle at great speed in order to gain an optimum shooting position and whilst Sunterra Ballasalla’s defence continued to make some fantastic interceptions Simcocks extended their lead to 29-12.

Ballasalla entered the final quarter with hopes of securing 1 point from attaining half the score, but despite the best efforts of the whole team, Simcocks Red proved to be too strong. The Ballasalla shooters Kate Tebay (GS) and Kate Williams (GA) remained consistent throughout the game, scoring 4 goals each quarter. Simcock’s defence of Ellan Charmer (GK) and Kenzie Pizzey (GD) made it extremely difficult to get a clean pass into the shooting circle and Ellan Charmer earned a very well deserved player of the match. The final score was 37-16.

Championship

Castletown Spaniards, 28  v Castletown Celts, 25

POTM - Laura Crocker for Castletown Spaniards

It was the first derby between the two Castletown teams, with newly promoted Celts pushing their club mates to the final whistle. There were a number of influential players missing, Celts had no Holly Charmer or Becky O'Neill and Spaniards were missing Zoe Ludford Brooks.

#The first quarter was full of errors as both teams got to grips with their new combinations. The Celts defence of Ashleigh Skelly GK and Michelle Blythe GD disrupted the flow of the untried Spaniards attack combination. At the other end, new player for Castletown, Kim Holland GS was combining well with Sarah Cutts WA and Amelie Hutchinson GA in attack, they weren't missing a shot. Celts took the first quarter 7-6.

After the quarter time turn around the Spaniards attack got their game together and found the space to play into Sara Collister GA and Amy Potts GS, who didn't look out of place in her first game for Spaniards. The game was too close to call, but the pressure was creating handling errors all over the court from both teams and the obstructions and footwork calls were piling up too. 4 of the girls had played in the earlier Castletown derby so there were understandably tired bodies all around the court! At half time Spaniards had evened it up to 12-12.

Spaniards came out strong in the third quarter, as Kerry Kelly C and Laura Crocker WA brought the ball through well to the shooters. In the mid court Laura was creating defensive pressure when Celts got a turnover along with Ruth Kinnish WD who came out for some cracking interceptions. The Celts attack were still on top form, with Kim and Amelie still shooting at a high percentage. Celts made some changes in their versatile mid court, with youngster Sophie Bowers C doing a great job after another impressive performance for Vikings earlier in the day. Spaniards took a 19-16 lead into the final quarter.

It was all set for a tense final quarter and there were nervous errors across the court alongside some brilliant moments of play. Spaniards pulled away by three goals but Celts were not giving up without a fight and got a couple of great turnovers in defence which kept up the pressure until the final whistle. It could have gone either way but Spaniards managed to hold on for the win. Player of the match went to Laura Crocker whose consistency in the attack end, along with her defensive pressure made the difference for Spaniards.

Division 1

Route 1 Volts, 19 v Manx Gems Emeralds,33

POTM - Lynette Corran for Manx Gems Emeralds

After winning the centre toss, it was Volts who netted the first goal in this match. Although Emeralds managed to score the next one,it was Volts who went ahead as Emeralds took a while to settle into it. However, minutes before the end of the first quarter, with some good build up lay through centre court.Trudi Halsall and Jill festorazzi were able to convert theri shots and the quarter ended in Emeralds favour 9-5.

With no changes for the second half,despite some good defensive play by Kelly McMullin and Olivia Quayle, the set plays worked well for Emeralds, sustaining their lead 18-10.

The third quarter saw changes for both sides. Volts switched Rachel Caine to defend in the circle,with Olivia Quayle into C and Shannon Saunders to WA. For Emeralds,Di Cregeen moved out of defence and into shooting, where Cregeen and Halsall converted most of their shots.

Going into the final quarter, Emeralds managed to maintain theri form. Lynette Corran made some great interceptions, which earned her Player of the Match

Division 2

Castletown Jets, 29  v Castletown Vikings, 18

POTM - Summer Sadler for Castletown Vikings

This game on paper looked to be a good match up and it lived up to that. The Jets took an early lead with some good shots from Ruby Watterson (GS). The Vikings slowly started to settle with some lovely play through the court. Ciara Whelan (C) and Sophie Bowers (WA) linked up well and fed the ball to Amelie Hutchinson (GS) who made some amazing shots. Vikings were starting to foil the Jets attack end with interceptions and tips coming thick and fast from Michelle Blythe (GD). The score at quarter time was 8-5 to the Vikings.

The second quarter started as the first quarter with Jets scoring the first two goals. A switch-up at the attack end for Jets saw Bree Collister move to GA and Callie Cubbon come into the WA position. The new look attack end worked well together and began fighting through the Vikings defence. At the same time, the Jets defence trio of Kate Potts (WD),  Summer Sadler (GD) and Immy Beech (GK) were doing the same on Vikings attack,however, Castletown Vikings were still holding onto the lead and finished ahead 14-12.

After a half time chat, the Jets started the third quarter stepping up a gear. Amy Potts (GS) switched into the GS position and worked well with Bree Collister who took some amazing passes from Mollie Zybert (C) and converted them well to goals. Vikings Olivia Cregeen (GK) did not make life easy for Jets attack with tips and interceptions along with Michelle Blythe (GD). A new defence strategy formulated at halftime from the Jets meant they were successfully able to keep the Vikings scoring only 1 goal in this quarter. This did not deter the Vikings though, they continued to fight through the quarter. The score at the end of quarter 3 was 21-16 to the Jets.

The 4th quarter saw the return of Ruby Watterson to GS and the scoring continued for the Jets. Vikings shuffled their attack end with Amelie Hutchinson moving to GA and Ellen Stewart moving to WA to help bolster the attack end. Though in the end the Jets powered on through and finished the game with a comfortable lead of 29-18. It was an entertaining game to watch and was enjoyed by all players on the court. The player of the match went to Summer Sadler, who has picked this accolade up 3 times in a row

FULL RESULTS

Premier Division

Championship

Division 1.

Division 2.