Congratulations to Accies who beat all the opposition to win the Mary Blake Tournament, now in its 27th year, that took place on Monday evening. Sadly Mary Blake passed away in 2015 but we keep her beloved tournament going in her honour. Mary was President of the JNA before becoming Honorary President, then taking over from Joyce Norman as Lady Patron.
Mary was a wonderful stalwart of Jersey Netball and she passed on to many of us her infectious love of the game. Her inspirational leadership continues as we strive to keep netball going for everyone.
With the reigning champions of the last 5 years, St Lawrence, sadly unable to field a team this year it meant new winners were guaranteed. Accies faced tough opposition though and didn't have an easy ride.
It was a fight to the end against 2nd placed St Clement, with whom they have previous battled for second spot. The 'young' Accies side with a combined age of 253 however edged a good lead before the close of the second half. St Clement's experience was however telling as the used their combined age of 502 years to their advantage! They came out fighting in the second half stringing together a number of goals and unsettling the eventual winners. But Accies did enough to win 15 v 12.
The match between St Brelade, made up almost entirely of defensive players from their 2 squads, and "St Saviour", technically a mixture of individuals from 3 winter league clubs (St Saviour, St Ouen and St Lawrence), was the closest game with St Saviour winning 7-3. Both sides having not played together before nor knowing their individual members' playing styles which meant that the first half saw relatively few goals as both sides struggled to get the ball in to the circle. St Saviour’s recovered first with some fantastic flying interceptions from Michaela Graham (St Ouen’s A) and their shooter Helen Bourke (St Saviour C) gaining confidence from playing against a Division 2 defence trio. St Brelade's centre suffered an injury in the 2nd half leaving the side with just 6 players early on the tournament but the change in line up forced their attack to change their playing style which proved beneficial as goals started to be scored.
In the true spirit of Jersey Netball, St Clement offered to plug the gap from St Brelade's injury in the first half of their game. This proved to be mildly confusing but very amusing for both sides. St Clement's GS Dawn Heard was on form with each goal hitting its target giving them a healthy win.
Results Table:
1st Accies
2nd St Clement
3rd St Saviour
4th St Brelade
Mary was a wonderful stalwart of Jersey Netball and she passed on to many of us her infectious love of the game. Her inspirational leadership continues as we strive to keep netball going for everyone.
With the reigning champions of the last 5 years, St Lawrence, sadly unable to field a team this year it meant new winners were guaranteed. Accies faced tough opposition though and didn't have an easy ride.
It was a fight to the end against 2nd placed St Clement, with whom they have previous battled for second spot. The 'young' Accies side with a combined age of 253 however edged a good lead before the close of the second half. St Clement's experience was however telling as the used their combined age of 502 years to their advantage! They came out fighting in the second half stringing together a number of goals and unsettling the eventual winners. But Accies did enough to win 15 v 12.
The match between St Brelade, made up almost entirely of defensive players from their 2 squads, and "St Saviour", technically a mixture of individuals from 3 winter league clubs (St Saviour, St Ouen and St Lawrence), was the closest game with St Saviour winning 7-3. Both sides having not played together before nor knowing their individual members' playing styles which meant that the first half saw relatively few goals as both sides struggled to get the ball in to the circle. St Saviour’s recovered first with some fantastic flying interceptions from Michaela Graham (St Ouen’s A) and their shooter Helen Bourke (St Saviour C) gaining confidence from playing against a Division 2 defence trio. St Brelade's centre suffered an injury in the 2nd half leaving the side with just 6 players early on the tournament but the change in line up forced their attack to change their playing style which proved beneficial as goals started to be scored.
In the true spirit of Jersey Netball, St Clement offered to plug the gap from St Brelade's injury in the first half of their game. This proved to be mildly confusing but very amusing for both sides. St Clement's GS Dawn Heard was on form with each goal hitting its target giving them a healthy win.
Results Table:
1st Accies
2nd St Clement
3rd St Saviour
4th St Brelade
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