THE FIRST weekend of the National League season produced some outstanding results for the greater Manchester Youth Basketball Club.

A very young girls team took the floor against a much bigger, older team from Tyne and Wear. They were not overawed in any way and played an aggressive full-court defence, which enabled them to take their first win in the league by 67-47.

Great performances by the England internationals Lauren Thomas Johnson and Gergia Jones, with help from the much-improved Siobhan Collins were the highlights.

In the Second senior division, the Magic 2 team went to Sheffield and were comfortable winners 99-66. They led all the way and were unfazed by some court re-scheduling.

Young players like Haris Charalambous, James Jones and Callum Jones were the top scorers in the game and their inclusion in the Conference Magic squad is now fully justified.

This win puts them at the top of the division with a won 3, lost one record and their eyes are firmly set on the play-offs.

Convincing victories by the under 18 boys (94-42 versus Sheffield) and the under 16 boys (94-52 versus Newcastle) made it a great weekend for the development side of the programme.

The only downside at the weekend was a surprising loss by the Magic, who went to Worcester fully confident of earning another win in the trophy competition.

However, a feisty Worcester team kept themselves in the game during the first three quarters and then managed to pull off a dramatic win in the last quarter (100-89)

The magic will now have to re-group before their next Trophy encounter in Hull this coming weekend.

No doubt coach Jeff Jones will have some harsh words for his players this week, as he prepares them for such an important game.