HANDBALL NEWS Edition 91, October 7 2009 - page one
SHOCK WINS FOR NOTTINGHAM AND SPEKE IN ENGLISH LEAGUE NOTTINGHAM and Liverpool Speke Garston both notched up surprise victories over tough opponents in their opening matches in the 2009-10 English National League (North) last weekend. Nottingham beat Liverpool 25-24 to start their season in emphatic style, beating a Liverpool side who lost just once in the Northern Section last season and finished second. The two sides looked evenly matched, but Nottingham were determined to gain revenge for a double defeat last term with their new players having integrated into the squad well.
Nottingham raced into a 10-5 lead midway through the first half, with a strong defence being complemented by some devastating play from both wings, with last season’s top scorer Cedric Biguenet and newcomer Jon Mardaras sharing the goals. Liverpool dragged themselves back into the game, but despite closing the gap they could not overhaul the deficit. With
ten goals each, Mardaras and Biguenet were the stars, while English League debutant Mathieu Flotat played well in goal. Meanwhile in the day’s other match at Nottingham, Liverpool Speke Garston secured a 20-17 victory over eightman Manchester to make a good start to their 200910 season. Seven goals from Smith and six from Hennessey helped 13-man Speke Garston to a good victory, but they had to battle back from an 11-9 half time deficit.
Great Britain Stars Join New Clubs TWO more members of the Great Britain handball squad have signed up to play for new clubs this season.
Chris McDermott from Birkenhead now plays for Aarhus GF’s Liga team in THE cream of English handball is travelling to Europe this week to Denmark after gaining experience with Essen in compete in the European Challenge Cup against some of the best the Bundesliga last term, teams from across the continent. while Merlin Braithwaite, English National their final clash with on October 10 before above, now plays for IFK
Trelleborg in Sweden. Trelleborg were relegated from the top flight at the end of last season, but with the help of Braithwaite they are planning a quick return to top-flight handball.
League and Cup winners Great Dane will travel to Romania for their three group games which begin on Friday, while Manchester will go to the Ukraine and Olympia to Montenegro for their matches on the same three-day tour. Great Dane begin with a clash against RK Konjuh Zivinice from Bosnia Herzegovina on Friday, and then will play Romanian outfit HC Odorheiu Secuiesc the following day before
Handball for over 30 years these are truly exciting times for our sport and a opportunity we must take! The fact that this post (and two further regional posts soon to be appointed) have been created is a measure of how far handball has come!” Contact Paul on 0151 233 5261 or at paul.church @englandhandball.com
Europe, here we come! ASD Albatro. English League runners-up Olympia travel to Berane for their group games. They begin with a clash with Portugese outfit Xico Andebol, and play hosts HC Berane
tackling HC Skopje from FYR Macedonia the next day. Manchester Handball Club, who topped the National League (North) last term, begin their fixtures with a match against Ukrainian side SC Time Burevestnik on October 9, then will take on top Bulgarian side HK Lokomotiv Varna before finishing off their fixtures with a match against AC Filippos Verias from Greece.
Church Appointed Development Officer FORMER GB international and Liverpool Handball Club player Paul Church has been appointed as Handball Development Officer for Liverpool. He has been involved in the sport for more than 30 years, and is the first of several similar appointments across the country which are aimed at spreading the popularity of the sport. “This is a fantastic opportunity for handball and me to develop the game across the City,” he said. “After being involved in
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 EHF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE NEW FORMAT ANNOUNCED Edition 91, October 7 2009 - page two
THE European Handball Federation has launched a new-look Champions League for the 2009/2010 season. A new format, fewer teams and a brand new FINAL4 competition in Cologne in May 2010 will guarantee players and fans one of the most exciting seasons yet in Europe’s premier club competition. The FINAL4 will bring together Europe’s top four teams and up to 20,000 handball fans in one venue, the
LANXESS arena in the EHF Champions Cologne, for a weekend League final. of top-class handball on For a limited time – 29/30 May 2009. to 1 November 2009 – the European Handball Discount Federation is also The FINAL4 ticket, offering all national available online at federations and clubs ehfFINAL4.com or via the chance to buy 10 or the ticket hotline +49 more tickets with a 10% 221 280 288, includes discount. all four matches, semiCologne and the finals on Saturday, 3-4th EHF FINAL4 will be the play off on Sunday and meeting point for
Europe’s handballers – contact your national don’t miss out! For more federation’s office or go information about the to www.ehfFinal4.com. FINAL4 special offer,
GB Prepare for Busy Week Gracemount Make Cracking Start to of European Action Scottish League GREAT Britain women are preparing for one of the biggest week’s
in their history with two international matches against tough GRACEMOUNT made an emphatic start to opposition in four days. their Scottish League fixtures on Saturday, After securing their return to London to The players come to beating Edinburgh rivals Liberton 37-12. place in the Qualifying prepare for the match London this weekend to Tournament of the 2010 European Championship, the team travel to Austria next week for their opening game in Feldkirchen. And they will then
with former world champions France at Crystal Palace. For tickets to the France game on October 17, go to www.amiando.com/BHA
prepare for the Austria Player-coach Allan league match. match, and will train at Stokes led the way with The final game saw Leyton SCORE Centre 11 goals, showing he is the experienced before flying out on coming into form ahead Cumbernauld take on Tuesday for the match of Scotland’s three- East Kilbride, who were on Wednesday night match European returning to senior (7pm GMT). Challenge Trophy handball after a long With only 1,380 campaign in Malta from absence. tickets available for the October 30-November 1. They made a match France game, fans are The second game of of it early on, but the advised to get theirs the day saw Ayr take on superior fitness and now to avoid Glasgow, and up to half strength of disappointment. time it was a close-run Cumbernauld was too Under-16s and over- affair with Glasgow only much and they ran out 60s should use four goals ahead. 50-19 winners. promotional code “CS” However, after the to get a discount, break they stamped their although proof of age authority on the game to will still be required on win 36-26, but Ayr played the door. well in their first ever 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