THE Deutsche Bank Winter Netball League started last Monday evening with Division I champions Convent getting off to an excellent start.

Convent A 58, St Ouen A 26: Ray Marsh, an experienced England umpire, was guest umpire, along with Jersey’s only male umpire Paul Adamson – the first Jersey game officiated by two male umpires.

With Convent’s GK Lauren Devine unable to play, it was down to Georgia Hickey to work well with teammate Serena Guthrie in defence.

St Ouen’s attack flowed easily as GS Carol Bouhaire effortlessly scored.

Along with player-of-the-match Karen Kurys this made their attack a force to be reckoned with.

Close game St Clement B 28, St Lawrence B 28: On the opposite court, crowds were on the edge of their seat with a close game between St Clement B and St Lawrence B resulting in a 28-28 draw.

The teams were evenly matched and were 15-15 at half time.

St Lawrence coach Jackie Nelson praised her players efforts against the more experienced St Clement stars such as Tammy Fage, who has come down from their A team, and Tracey Fullerton (player of the match).

Freya Moss had an outstanding game playing her first full game for the St Lawrence B team after previously subbing for them last season.

Across the Island at Les Quennevais there were also close games as St Ouen C beat St Clement C by just two goals.

The St Ouen youngsters, promoted from Division IV, played beyond expectations.

Anna Hafsteinsson was awarded player of the match with clean and accurate passes into shooter Amy Cox.

The attack was put under immense pressure by the winning combination of St Clement’s Tanya Older at GD and Mary Pack as GK.

Coach Maureen Cox said both teams should be proud of their performance and added that the JNA initiative of selecting players of the match was an excellent idea.

On Tuesday Convent C beat Quackers A 18-15 in a tough encounter, while JCG bettered Accies A by four goals 39-35.

St Clements A beat St Lawrence A in Division I, working well with their newly-formed team.

Goal attack Jenna Meredith was their Player of the Match, while St Lawrence, who put on a brave performance, had goal keeper Laura MacFarlane as top player.

The opening whistle of the league season was blown by Mark Wildman, the representative from league sponsors Deutsche Bank.

Other results from Tuesday evening: St Clement D 38, St Brelade B 32; St Ouen B 45, St Peter 25; JCG Old Girls 39, Accies 35; Quakers 15, Convent C 1.

Convent netball player Serena Guthrie will be able to turn out for her club next season contrary to the report in Saturday’s JEP.