DALGETY BAY'S Kirsty Marsh produced some of the best judo of her flourishing career to take the silver medal for Scotland in the under-48 kilo category in her inaugural appearance at the Sainsbury;s UK School Games held in Manchester earlier this month.

In addition to fighting in the under-18 age group for the first time, the 14-year-old Inverkeithing High School pupil (pictured second left with other Scottish medalists) also had to cope with the pressure of participating in the very first fight of the tournament in front of a capacity crowd in the Amaechi Centre.

But if Marsh was feeling any nerves as she took on Ellie Storey, of South Hunsley School in East Yorkshire, they dissipated within 30 seconds as she threw the English girl for wazari with a driving ouchi gari technique, finishing the fight less than a minute later with an adept counter-attack to earn revenge on the fighter who had beaten her in the final of last year's Sportif International Tournament.

In order to reach the semi-final of the multi-sport event and guarantee a medal, the Destination Judo club member had to beat the most experienced competitor in her category, 17-year-old Skye Sands, of Belfast's Methodist College, who had first competed in the event in 2011.

Again Marsh started well, adapting a seemingly unsuccessful early attack and scoring yuko, before again utilising her devastating ouchi gari attack to score wazari against the Northern Ireland number one.

The British under-15 champion completed her second victory shortly afterwards, unbalancing Sands (who is third on the UK under-18 ranking list) with a subtle change of grip and driving her onto her back to end the contest.

The semi-final pitted the Scot against Yasmin Javadian, of Coventry's Bishop Ullathorne School, British champion for the past two years in the weight category above her one, and victor of the Venray International tournament held in Holland in June. Against all odds, the West Fifer scored another quick win, with another superbly executed ouchi gari throw being judged ippon just 30 seconds into the scheduled four-minute fight to secure one of her most impressive career victories.

The final, against Kiera Bateman, of Wokingham's The Holt School, gave Marsh an indication of the challenge that awaits her when she officially moves into the under-18 category at the end of the year, as the number one ranked cadet launched into a series of fearsome newaza (groundwork) attacks, which the Scottish champion did well to resist for more than two-and-a-half minutes before tapping out to concede the fight.

Nevertheless, the silver medal she received was well beyond expectations and Marsh can face tournaments in Kendal and Gateshead in the next few weeks with increased confidence.