NEW YEAR, same story for the Evelyn Partners Jets as they claimed an impressive 55-50 victory away at Premier League 3 leaders, Ryland on Sunday.
“We are super pleased with our performance,” said team captain Rosie Tonner. “It was a tough ask coming up against top-of-the-table straight after the Christmas break, but I actually think we put out one of our best performances of the season.”
2025 was a year of ups for Team Jets, a year which saw them return to Premier League netball after several years away.
Tonner and her team, which on this occasion featured three teenagers, have kicked off 2026 in commanding fashion to move to within just two points of top spot.
Ryland, a club of strong heritage based just south of Birmingham, have lost just three games this season from their 12 matches, two of them now coming against Serena Kersten’s squad.
Their first contest back on 28 September saw the Jets claim a 46-43 win at home, but this away win feels like a momentum shifting result.
The final game of 2025 for the Jets saw them fall 35-40 to second-placed Exeter away from home. Defeat on Sunday may have cast the Jets too far back in their title ambitions.
However, as is so often the case with this group, their character shone bright through adversity.
Ryland 50
Evelyn Partners 55
In the absence of head coach Serena Kersten, Emily Green resumed the reins for the trip, explaining she was expecting a “brutally tough test” against a team that “challenges every aspect of your game across the whole court”.
Aside from being the highest scorers in the division, Ryland have also shipped their fair of goals this campaign.
Both Green and Tonner were effusive in their praise of their shooters, in a game where numbers of 100% shooting accuracy flow rhythmically through the ears, although this is hardly unexpected when a player of the quality of Lily Jones is on court.
“As always, she had an outstanding game,” said captain Tonner of her Team Bath star shooter Jones. “To end the game with perfect shooting stats against a team like Ryland and the physicality and height of their defenders was an amazing effort.
“Grace [Thomson] was equally brilliant though. Her numbers wouldn’t have been much further behind Lily’s. To have a combination like those two at our disposal is such a luxury.”
The margin of victory was also crucial in this context. A team, even in defeat, can still earn a bonus point if they finish within four or fewer points of the winning team’s score.
Therefore, the Jets’ five-point margin of victory denied Ryland that ever-so-crucial bonus point.
“Every point counts in this league, it’s so tight at the top between us two and Exeter, so maintaining the five-goal difference at full time is massive for us,” Tonner continued.
That bonus point may well have come in the dying seconds of the match, if it were not for a superb clutch interception from goalkeeper Becca Forrest away from the awaiting shooter’s fingertips.
“The win now puts us just two points from top of the league so we are hoping to continue this momentum going into the second half of the season.”
Coach Green gave her thoughts, adding: “The fact that we were converting at such a high percentage and we still only won by five goals shows just how strong that Ryland side is.
“What I’m so proud of is the fact that we stood up in a game like that against such a challenge and we got over the line for the win. We’re a high performance unit, meaning usually the girls are quite hard on themselves post-match, but on this occasion, everyone was delighted with the efforts of both the collective and individually.”
The Jets are back in action next weekend, 18 January, where they go from top to the bottom of the league as they welcome a home clash with Worcester Reds.
Evelyn Partners Jets squad: Rosie Tonner (c), Florence Allo, Jodie Blampied, Jacy Brown, Molly Carre, Toni Chaytor, Becca Forrest, Nicole Goddard, Lily Jones, Emily Le Gros, Grace Thomson
