2022-23 Premier League regular season concludes

The closing stages of the 2022-23 Premier League season are here with lots still to play for at both ends of the table across all three leagues.

In Premier League 1, Oldham currently hold a slender three-point gap at the top of the table over Academy. If the defending champions hold on, it’ll be their 11th top-flight title while if Academy finish first, they’ll secure the trophy for the fourth time.

At the other end of the table, five points separate the bottom four: last season’s Premier League 2 runners-up Leeds Athletic (7th, 39), Tameside (8th, 38), YWCA Bury (9th, 37) and Hucclecote (10th, 34).

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With their eyes firmly fixed on making it to the top flight, Grangetown (1st, 61) and Cumberland (2nd, 58), who missed out by a single point in 2021-22, are in the two Premier League 2 promotion spots as it stands. However, Telstars (3rd, 57), Exeter (4th, 56) and The Downs (5th, 55) are hot on their heels.

Sussex Thunder, who made the step up to the second tier for 2022-23, are bottom with 16 points. Just above them and battling to avoid the drop are Team Bath Toucans (9th, 33) and Oaksway (8th, 34).

Premier League newcomers Eagles have stormed to the top of the PL3 table with 13 wins and just two defeats to their name. There’s a tight race behind them with Norfolk United (2nd, 54), who finished third last season, and Northants Storm (3rd, 51), who won promotion in the 2021-22 play-offs.

The bottom three teams at the end of the regular season will face the nine regional league winners in the play-offs to determine who’ll play in Premier League 3 next season. TFC Leicester Netball Club (10th, 36), Leyton (9th, 36) and Trafford (8th, 43) currently occupy those places with Ryland (7th, 45), Thoroughbreds (6th, 46) and BSV Billericay (5th, 46) just ahead.

Click into the dropdown menus below to hear directly from some of the clubs on their seasons so far and the final few rounds. A huge thank you to all of the clubs who have sent in contributions. 

 

Premier League 1

Defending Premier League 1 champions Oldham are currently in the tightest battle for the league title that we’ve seen for a few years and it’s all to play for in the final four fixtures.

Having traded a game each against each other, Oldham suffered a defeat to bottom club Hucclecote when their squad was impacted by a clashing Super League friendly. Academy lost in Round 14 to Charnwood and in Round 15 to YWCA Bury leaving it the most interesting run-in.

Showing their strength in depth, Oldham have used 21 players across the season. This has included debuts for three 16-year-old players: Emily Pawlett, Pippa Morgan and Sophia Warn.

So far the second half of the season has continued to deliver excitement, frustration and surprises in equal measure. As of 27th Feb, we sit third in Premier League 1, with three games to play. We are delighted with our season and proud of our squad. 

The highlight of the year so far was our performance to beat table toppers Academy in London. Academy beat us comfortably last year and the turnaround in the return fixture exemplifies the character and resilience in the group. 

We have learned to take nothing for granted. Every team is capable of beating any team on their day. Whatever happens in our last three games, we have had a fantastic experience in our debut season in the top flight. 

Premier League 2

Telstars have started fast to their games this season, often coming out strong in the first quarter then building on that intensity in the second half.

With several close and well-contested matches, Telstars have fought hard to remain in each game, resulting in some crucial away wins.

Despite a couple of ACL injuries relatively early on in the season, Telstars have adapted well and demonstrated the depth of their squad, with many Premier League debuts from younger players.

With a strong second half to the season so far, Telstars are continuing to develop on their connections, with the recent close match against Grangetown evidence of this.

Improved defensive play as a unit and the trust to release the ball early and has resulted in 10 wins to date. With a few remaining games, Telstars have their sights firmly set on fighting for promotion to Premier League 1.

It’s been a great first year for us in Premier League 2 and we have learnt so much as a squad.

The experience we’ve gained from playing against some top quality players and the level of competition we’ve had week in, week out has been invaluable.

The league has felt really exciting and all of our games have been highly competitive, often with really fine margins determining the outcome.

With three games to go, we want to finish as high as we can in the league and also show the improvements we have made across the season.

As a partnership between University of Exeter Sport, Exeter Netball Club and University of Exeter Netball Club, we’d like to thank the University for all their support in enabling us to compete at this level.

It has been a good season so far for The Downs. A slightly slow start with the team settling in but the group have built and developed themselves – a few new players to the team and combinations are starting to flourish. The team environment is a very happy and positive place.

We’ve had some very good and competitive matches and despite a draw against top of the table recently, we are very much looking forward to the last few games.

At the beginning of the 2022/23 season, Reds had to work on growing new netball partnerships all over the court due to changes amongst the team. We have worked hard on building new combinations and continue to work hard in training to strengthen these.

Our squad includes a mix of experienced players and young talent which has meant that not only have we been able to compete at the high level but the growth and improvement amongst members of our team has been massive.

A highlight of the season so far was a recent away win at Cumberland where the pure grit and determination of the team ground out an important win for the Reds.

As we face our final three games of the season, we hope to continue developing strong combinations and growing as a team going forward into the off season. We look forward to seeing what this team can do in the last few games of this season and the future.

We have had a very mixed season in Premier League 2 after coming down from Premier League 1.

Our season started strong with a couple of wins on the board however we hit a few bumps in the road and had a few narrow losses.

Our aim this season was to try and be consistent with how we are playing as we have either had really strong first quarters, or finished games really strong having left ourselves in deficits which were hard to claw back.

We have just come off the back of a well-fought win against Team Bath and are looking to put out good performances for our remaining three games. It would be great to get our final three wins to secure our place in Premier League 2 for next season and with two home advantages, we are hoping for a good crowd to help us get those wins.

It has been an interesting season so far for Oaksway and we now find ourselves in a relegation battle at the bottom of the table.

Following some very close matches at the beginning of the season, including a very narrow loss to our local rivals Grangetown, we are still confident that we can win in all of our remaining games.

Our squad has been fairly consistent all season and we have seen some standout performances, especially from new players. One last big push will hopefully see us remain in Premier League 2.

Having had a disappointing start to the season with a win/loss record of five/two, our young squad were determined to improve performances. In most games this has been achieved but unfortunately the overall results have still only produced another two wins.

Whilst the overall results are disappointing, we feel our performances have improved and on a couple of occasions we have been within five and earned the additional point. Our aim earlier in the season was to narrow scores, which has been achieved. We have developed as a squad and look forward to the challenge of our last few games.

We are currently sitting in the automatic relegation position so the last few games are crucial, made more challenging by the next game against the top of the table. We look forward to putting out our best performance in the three remaining games.

Sadly, Sussex Thunder have found Premier League 2 really challenging this season. Losing players having just won Premier League 3 really stopped us in our stride!

When we hadn’t won a game in the first half of the season, the team was quite deflated. We have managed to secure one win at home which generated some confidence, and we still have all eight original players who are still fully committed and giving their all. This has been a step too far this season.

Premier League 3

Eagles had tried to qualify for the National Premier League for the previous six years, so there was no way our squad of loyal players was going to approach this season with anything but determination and passion.

We have faced some challenges with availability of players to train together as many attend universities across the country, and some have additional “higher netball” commitments, but we managed to have a solid four-week pre-season with everyone together which created a positive and exciting culture across all of our senior squads and sent a real buzz through the club.

It is fair to say there was nervous anticipation at the beginning of the season but after some strong performances and wins against formidable competition there was a real sense of belief that this group could aim high.

We are so proud to see how the girls have stepped up to the challenges – in particular the level of physical contest – but the hard work they put into their training, fitness and strength and conditioning, as well as their commitment to each other, has been rewarded with a fantastic season.

Whirlwind is an understatement of our first experience in Premier League 3. Still on a high from plays-offs in April last year, we prepared hard over the summer for our first adventure in September.

Players and coaches have had a fantastic exposure to an outstanding level of competitive netball. Highs and lows have challenged all, but with our close team camaraderie we’ve obtained experience, learnt from losses and learnt also from wins. We’ve been building week in, week out and have enjoyed the journey so far.

Sitting in second place for the majority of our first season has been incredible for us as a club with our expectations going into the league of finishing mid-table. The league has been so close and heading into the final three games, the final positions of the league could go anyway.

For Storm, we have created a pathway for players from our junior section through to our senior squads and we have been able to give some of our younger plays Premier League exposure which is fantastic for our county. Let’s see what the next three games bring.

The 2022/23 Premier League 3 season for Ryland has been a “rebuild” season.

With many of our senior players stepping down from full-time Premier League commitments last year, the opportunity was given to several of our junior members to join the squad and the first game included debuts for two of our 15 year olds.

The first few games of the season were tough as it took a while for the team to gel on court and put into match play what was going well in training. Finally, five matches in and a nail-biting one-goal win showed that the hard work was paying off.

Since then, the improvement as a squad has been substantial and the results have reflected this. The league is so closely balanced this year, every point is going to count in these last three games – the hard work continues and the squad are ready to give their all.

As our first ever season in Premier League 3 began, we were excited, nervous, but keen to get off to a strong start. With a focused mindset we bagged two wins out of two, however as the season progressed, injuries crept in, the squad had to change, and the frequent journeys across the country felt longer and longer. We soon learned that, in this league, there is no room for error. Still, we are constantly learning and building from every game.

The battle from the top of the league to the bottom remains so close, with positions in the table changing each week. The end will be tight but we’re ready to try and maintain a spot in this league and finish our season off the way we started.

To see which matches are coming up on Joymo, head to englandnetball.tv.

To stay up to date with the leagues, including fixtures, results and standings, make sure to visit their official pages on the England Netball  website.

All results received within two hours after the final whistle will be updated on the website by 6pm on Sundays.

Make sure you’re following England Netball on Twitter for the latest news and updates.

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