An amazing weekend of closely fought competition culminated in two fantastic final games in Loughborough this weekend.
The NPL and NPFL competitions took over the home of our full-time Roses for three days of thrilling netball.
Some of the most exciting young netballers in the country took to court in the NPFL tournament where the action earlier in the weekend saw the North-West winning Group C undefeated but elsewhere the competition was very tight.
It was extremely close between Yorkshire and Humberside, the South and London and South-East two as the latter side beat the South by just a single point – 30-29.
Proving the nip and tuck nature of the tournament, Yorkshire and Humberside beat London and South-East two by one goal, 29-28 and the South beat Yorkshire and Humberside by 28-27!
Results elsewhere meant that London and South-East two finished in fourth position as Yorkshire and Humberside and the South were tied on 18 points.
This placing was decided on goal average and as Yorkshire had a marginally better difference of 0.03 they went into the third/fourth playoff and the South went on to play in the fifth and sixth match.
Group D wasn’t as close with London and South-East one running out clear winners taking victories in all their matches and North-West two claiming second.
The showpiece final was between the London and South-East and North-West regions where the southern side managed to pull away from their northern rivals to take the title with a 33-24 win.
The third/fourth playoff was a lot closer with just three goals the margin come full-time. North-West two managed to claim the victory 26-23.
The NPL competition also didn’t disappoint with Vitality Netball Superleague stars of the future showing the crowd their potential.
Manchester Thunder and Hertfordshire Mavericks put out undeniable displays as they both won all of their group games.
Both teams also won their semis to set up a fantastically close final which Mavericks took 48-47.
Mavericks were leading convincingly after the first quarter but the rest of the match was the story of the Thunder come back.
Mavericks managed to cling on to their lead, winning by just a single goal to lift the trophy, masterminding Thunder’s only loss of the whole season.
Elsewhere in the competition, Yorkshire Jets won three of their group games and lost just one against Thunder.
Jets were beaten by Mavericks in the semi-finals, 55-29 and their third/fourth playoff against Surrey Storm was a close encounter with just a few goals in it the whole way through!
In the last quarter Storm managed to pick up some vital turnovers to take the win by 38-36.
After a fantastic weekend of play, England Netball would like to thank all teams, coaches, officials and volunteers for their hard work and also Loughborough University for their hospitality.
Congratulations to all teams involved in the weekend, especially to Hertfordshire Mavericks and the London and South-East Region for their respective titles.
To see the final placings from the weekend click here.
