Premiership
Coming up this week there should be some hotly contested matches in the Premiership Division.
Brown Craine Toomraiders will be taking on Simcocks Red Eagles at St Ninian’s Lower School at 10am. Simcocks will be the favourites for this match but we shouldn’t discredit Toomraiders who missed out on a place in last season’s cup final by just one goal when they lost to SMP Partners Ballasalla A in the semi-finals.
Speaking of Balla A they will be playing the Missfits A ladies at the NSC at 10am. Balla were the big scorers last week with Ashley Hall clearly settling well in to the goal attack position. They will be pushing for another big score line but they will have to get through Missfits formidable defence first!
The two Route 1 teams in the division, Connections and Turbos go head to head at St Ninian’s Lower School at 11am. Just because these are teams are from the same club, it does not mean they will give each other an easy ride, both teams will be out for glory!
Rubies will want to capitalise on their strong start last week where they scored more than double the number of goal they were averaging per match last season. They will need to play their most fierce netball if they want to take a win from Simcocks who came out with a great score after playing their A team last week.
Thompson Purple and SMP Partners Ballasalla B will each be going after their first win of the season, after losing to Connections last week by less than half marks, Balla really need the points. Thompson have some key players away this week so it should be a tense match, but there is always great respect and sportsmanship when these sides meet.
First Division
This week Thompson White will be taking to the court at the NSC at midday to play their first fixture of the season against Marbree Motors. Marbree have yet to beat Thompson’s second team but they always give it a good go.
League newbies Bobby Sadler Young Farmers showed themselves as ones to watch after beating the other league newcomers Castletown last week but it will be interesting to see how they get on against division one long stays, Absolute Scaffolding. This should be a great match as the athleticism of the Farmers takes on the tactics and wisdom of the Ramsey ladies!
Manx Glass Saints’ Kym Hicklin certainly made her presence felt last week as she took home the player of the match when her team beat PWC Emeralds. This week they take on The Spaniards and these ladies won’t be giving up on 3 points without a fight. Expect a feisty match.
Emeralds will have to pick themselves up after losing to Saint for the first time since the 2013/14 season as they will be playing the young Fencibles A side. Fencibles finished the league in second last year and are a force to be reckoned with when they are get going.
Finally we have Team DQ who will be looking to hold their place at the top of the table after playing Simcocks White. Simcocks lost last week but they came away with half points. I think this will be DQ’s match to lose.
Second Division
Missfits C will be hoping to improve on their score as they take on Thompson’s fourth ranked Fuchsia team at the NSC at 9am. Thompson drew last week against Simcocks Green and they will definitely be looking for three points this week so Missfits should be prepared.
Simcocks green will also be looking to improve on a draw when they take on Route 1 Reactors. Reactors lost last week to one of the Thompson teams but they had a decent score so this should make for a good match.
Their sister team Route 1 Sparks also lost last week to Missfits B so they will be looking to fight back when they play PWC Sapphires. Sapphires had a great start to the season stopping league newcomers Castletown Navy from getting their score in to double digits.
The other two Thompson teams in the division Thompson Lilac and Violet take on Castletown Navy and Missfits B respectively. These should be two exciting games at the bottom and middle of the table as these teams are stacked on top of each other. All teams will need to play their socks off to make sure they get that all elusive goal difference, so making sure they not only score plenty but concede the fewest too.
The top of the table will be being contested by SMP Partners Ballasalla C and Missfits B. Both of these teams came away with great first wins last week. Balla C have the better track record of the two teams but it’s a new season so anything goes!
