A CLASH between Swindon ladies select and England men select was the star attraction at the inaugural Squires Tournament hosted by Raychem on Saturday.

Unsurprisingly the national side emerged emphatic winners, triumphing 43-23 against their hosts.

The tournament was named after Mo Squires who started Raychem Netball Club in 1979. At that time the club consisted mainly of Raychem employees and had one team competing locally.

Squires’ dedication over the years has helped Raychem grow and the club now has one Regional League team, six Swindon & District League sides and six junior teams.

As Squires’ mother and father - netball fans and supporters of Raychem - died in 2005 and 2012 respectively, the club was keen to hold the Squires Tournament in their memory.

Local teams and other sides from as far afield as Hampshire and Hertfordshire battled it out in morning and afternoon sessions for cup and plate.

After a long day of netball in the sunshine, Scared Hitless claimed cup honours with Just Force finishing runners-up.

The plate was won by Delta with Randoms finishing second.

Players of the tournament were Gemma Gray from Scared Hitless and Jean Lowe from Shrivenham in the cup and plate tournaments.

Umpire of the day was given to James Thomas from Gloucester and honourable mentions go to two young umpires, Sophie Bull and Jack Reed.

Around £1,000 was raised for the Prospect Hospice and Raychem hope the tournament will become firmly established in the Swindon netball calendar in the coming years.