LOW Furness shows nerves of steel to beat their netball nemeses and win the St Mary's Parish Gala competition.

The Urswick Year 5 and 6 team landed the trophy against a field of nine primary schools from across the area, several times scoring crucial late goals.

And Low Furness claimed overall success by defeating the Pennington School team in the final who had inflicted their only defeat of the competition earlier on in the day.

The team of Lily Hodgkinson, Rose Hartley, Ellena Wilkin, Ava Searle, Lucy Swarbrick, Molly Parsons, Gracie Kaye and Tilly Weston started out with a tough group game against Chetwynde A.

It was expected to be their hardest game, but they played extremely well to emerge as 1-0 victors.

Low Furness next came up against a Pennington side who had impressed in their earlier match.

“We were quite worried about this game, because we had seen them play and they were an outstanding team,” said Hartley.

It proved to be an only defeat of the day, as Pennington's tall Year 6 girls ran out as 4-0 victors.

Low Furness bounced back quickly against a strong Penny Bridge side, with a late goal seeing them take a 3-2 win.

Their next game against Church Walk was expected to be easier, as the Ulverston school had lost all their previous matches, but they went 1-0 up in the second half.

Weston scored an excellent goal in the last 10 seconds to make it 1-1 and ensure progress to the semi-finals, where they met Chetwynde B.

Another top-drawer display ensured a 4-0 triumph and a rematch with Pennington in the final.

This time, it was Low Furness who came out on top, making up for their earlier defeat with a 2-0 success, with the goals coming from Weston and Hartley.

Hodgkinson said: “We were so happy that we had won we got a beautiful trophy and a medal each.”

“We had played so well and we were very proud of ourselves,” added Wilkin.

Low Furness head Sue Little added her praise for the team, and said: “They just played so well. They're a lovely set of girls and it was a real pleasure being with them.

“We had massive support from our parents, and it was a super gala. It was the icing on the cake to come away with the cup.”

Low Furness also had to football teams at the gala, with both the Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 teams finishing third in their leagues.