HANDBALL NEWS Edition 98, November 25 2009 - page one
TITLE RACE TAKES A TWIST AS CAMBRIDGE DRAW WITH CHAMPS THE race for the English National League title was thrown wide open on Sunday when defending league and cup champions Great Dane were held to a dramatic 24-24 draw with Cambridge. Only a goal in the last second of the game helped Great Dane scrape a point from a match that had been close throughout at Leyton SCORE Centre in London. The draw means Cambridge are top of the early table with Olympia second and Great Dane third, but the real consequences of that result may only be felt at the end of the season when the play-off league begins. Both sides were virtually at full strength for the clash, and both fielded squads with a good mix of new and old players.
However, Great Dane quickly adapted and pulled level at 21-21, although it looked all over with four seconds remaining and Cambridge 23-24 ahead. But a free throw was awarded to Great Dane, and after the initial charge was dummied, a mid-air shot from Colas Hillaireau ensured a draw. Francisco Seco topscored for Cambridge with 12 goals and was named man of the match.
* In other National League action in the Southern Section, Olympia scraped past Thames with a 22-21 victory at Leyton. This weekend should see the postponed Thames v Great Dane match replayed at Leyton SCORE Centre in London on Saturday, and there are also two matches in the women’s National League, Thames v Ruislip Eagles and Olympia v Great Dane.
English Men's National League (South): Great Dane 24 Cambridge 24, Olympia 22 Thames 21. English Men's National League (North): Liverpool 32 Manchester 35, Liverpool Speke Garston 40 Wirral, Nottingham 23 Salford 24. Scottish Men's League: Cumbernauld 37 Liberton 27, Glasgow 34 Tryst 31, East Kilbride 26 Ayr 41.
Fixtures, November 28 English Men's National League (South): Thames v Great Dane). English Women's National League: Thames v Ruislip Eagles, Olympia v Great Dane.
Fixtures, November 29 English Women's Development Lge (North): Deva v Sheffield, Sheffield v Leeds Met, Leeds Met v Deva. English Women's Development Lge (South): Cambridge v Olympia II, Ruislip Eagles II v Oxford Univ.
English Men's National League (South) Cambridge Olympia Great Dane Thames Ruislip Eagles
Attacks It was goal for goal for the opening few minutes, with Cambridge edging ahead 4-3 after six minutes and then preserving their lead thanks to some good saves from Dan Guz. For most of the half there was never more than one goal in it, but after the sides had matched each other stride for stride Great Dane took a 12-10 lead, which was quickly cut to 12-11 at half time. Shortly after play resumed Cambridge hit back to lead 16-17, and then extended that to 1619 as their attacks – as well as a 3-2-1 defence – began to bear fruit.
Results, November 22
4 3 2 2 3
3 2 1 0 0
1 0 1 0 0
0 1 0 2 3
95 57 55 36 50
75 61 42 41 74
20 -4 13 -5 -24
7 4 3 0 0
English Men's National League (North)
Great Britain's Mark Hawkins. Pic: Colorsport/Dan Rowley.
Mark on the Move GREAT Britain winger Mark Hawkins has signed for inform Danish club HK Aarhus Nord as his development into a world-class handball player continues. The 24-year-old from Horsham said: “They are
currently top of the Third Division and have won eight out of eight matches. My aim - and the team’s aim - is to keep winning and get promoted and win the league.”
Manchester Nottingham Liverpool Salford Speke Garston Manchester U Wirral
6 6 6 4 5 4 5
5 4 3 3 2 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 2 3 1 3 3 5
187 142 147 115 129 72 92
134 142 133 109 127 96 143
53 0 14 6 2 -24 -51
10 8 6 6 4 2 0
0 0 0 2 3 3 4 3
166 110 121 116 115 92 97 26
104 78 53 93 144 133 171 64
62 32 68 23 -29 -41 -74 -38
8 8 6 4 2 2 0 0
Scottish Men's League Cumbernauld Glasgow Gracemount Tryst 77 Ayr Liberton EK82 Stirling
4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3
4 4 3 2 1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball Association For more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com
HANDBALL NEWS Edition 98, November 25 2009 - page two
SALFORD SCRAPE VICTORY AS MANCHESTER MARCH ON SALFORD scraped past rivals Nottingham University 24-23 in a dramatic clash at Sutton Bonington in Nottingham on Sunday as the English National League’s Northern Section continued to look wide open. The clash was close throughout, but a late goal sealed the points for Salford, who have three wins from four games so far and look set to challenge Manchester's recent domination of the Northern Section. Salford were ahead 119 at the break with some strong defence from both teams making goals hard to come by. The home team’s goalkeeper Dana Muhammed was in fine form, while Salford manmarked Guillaume Bodet and Jon Mardaras to negate their threat. Nottingham quickly levelled the scores once play resumed after half time, and the sides remained close. Both
suffered injuries to key players which added to the drama, and with five minutes to go the scores were locked at 22-22. However, Nottingham tired and found themselves a man down for two of the final four Salford minutes, and nosed in front and held out for the win. Aden Woodall topscored with seven goals, while Phil Jankowiak added six. For Nottingham, Bodet and Mardaras both scored seven, but it was not enough to avoid defeat. Manchester remain top of the Northern Section after beating Liverpool 3532 at Bellevue in Manchester on Sunday. A fifth win in six matches leaves
Manchester top of the table, although if Salford win their two matches in hand they could knock them off the top. A whopping 13 goals from Tomasz Lasek helped Manchester to victory, with Girost chipping in with six. Leading 18-15 at the break, Manchester held their three-goal advantage to the final whistle despite some determined play from Liverpool. And in the day’s other Northern Section clash, Liverpool Speke Garston returned to winning ways with a comfortable 40-22 win over strugglers Wirral. From the first whistle Speke Garston were in devastating form and quickly raced to a 6-0 lead without reply.
Wirral's Stephen Jameson. Pic: Michele Davison.
Hard defending and decisive attack play ensured that this lead was never to be diminished and with Hennessey and Testoff scoring eight apiece, Smith adding seven and McMahon five, Speke gave their goal difference a big boost.
Battling Glasgow overcome Tryst GLASGOW continued their push for the Scottish League title with a close 34-31 victory over a strong Tryst side on Sunday. Tryst were looking to bounce back in style after the previous week’s disappointing defeat the Liberton, while Glasgow knew they would have to be at their best to maintain their unbeaten start. The match was close throughout, although Glasgow built a 16-12 lead at half time.
While Glasgow used their large bench, Tryst were scoring regularly, not least because of the 13 goals from former Great Britain international Gary McCafferty. As the match drifted to a close a desperate Tryst began subbing their goalkeeper with an extra outfield player, but it did not have the desired effect and Glasgow held out. In other action on Saturday, Cumbernauld won 37-27 against a Liberton side who largely struggled to recreate their recent good form.
Cumbernauld were excellent in attack, with Alan Govan scoring ten and Milo Cook nine. The experienced Christian Wolf scored nine for Liberton, but it was not enough to stop a comfortable win for Cumbernauld. Ayr secured their first win of the season when they beat East Kilbride 41-26. East Kilbride’s young and inexperienced players battled well early on and the scores were close, but the strength and experience of Ayr’s two Hungarian players Attila Schmidt and Laszlo Csoma started to tell.
East Kilbride changed their defence to counteract the danger, but failed to stop the scoring rate of Ayr. Early in the second half Ayr built up a nine-goal lead but as the game looked like it was over East Kilbride started to pull it back to five. But following a time out Ayr started to build their lead again and scored a number of fast breaks to secure a convincing victory over East Kilbride. The top scorers for Ayr were Lazlo Csoma with 11 goals and Attila Schmidt with 12.
Wirral had their attacks constantly blunted by solid defending and brave goalkeeping from their young keeper Avery, although Stephen Jameson and Jason Roberts did bag six goals each.
English Cup 2010 THE final of the 2010 English Cup will be held at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, it was confirmed this week. The event is to be held on June 6 – different from previously published – and entries should be in by December 9. Entry is £33, while a £77 bond is also payable and will be refunded upon completion of all fixtures. See www.England Handball.com for more details.
Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball Association For more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com