Nottingham Win Opening Clash with Student Rivals

NOTTINGHAM University made an emphatic start to the new English National League season when they secured a dramatic 22-20 victory over Manchester University at Belle Vue on Sunday.

Some excellent goalkeeping was on show, particularly from Nottingham, and both sides made it difficult for each other to build any sort of lead.

Manchester’s Berezowski showed he was in lethal form from nine metres, and Hough netted himself five goals. But Nottingham were careful to ensure goals kept coming, particularly from Mardaras and Bodet. At half time, the score was 11-11.

The second half saw both teams losing their shape and discipline, and Manchester University’s Castro, who played on the edge all game, was able to force Nottingham into conceding penalties.

The red card for Maradaras in the second period meant Nottingham were forced to be without their most creative player, but good work with two minutes to play meant they were able to open up an all-important two-goal lead, which they hung on to with some good defence.

In other action on Sunday, senior division debutants Deva put on an impressive second half display, but it was not enough to force a comeback against a depleted but well-oiled Manchester side who eventually won 25-17.

Hammache for Manchester was the star of the show with nine goals, while LIatouji added eight.
A new and inexperienced Wirral side lost heavily to a Salford which was littered with Great Britain Under-21 players.

Jack Hennessey scored 14 goals, while Aden Woodall added ten to help Salford to a 46-21 victory. Anthony Elston scored eight for Wirral.

And league newcomers Liverpool Wolves Foundation emerged 28-10 winners over Liverpool Speke Garston, with Caralo scoring nine goals. But good defence proved the key to their victory.

Great Dane Claim London Cup Honours

ENGLISH League champions Great Dane lifted the men’s London Cup last weekend, but did it the hard way.

Ruislip Eagles beat the champions 13-14 in their opening match, but Great Dane weren’t about to make the same mistake twice and then went on to win the tournament.

A highly-contested clash followed between Thames and Olympia in the second game of the afternoon and only in the dying seconds of the game Olympia went ahead 11-10.

Thames however showed their good run of form by beating Ruislip Eagles (15-14) whereas Great Dane returned to winning ways by striking arch rival Olympia (13-12).

Olympia finished second of the tournament by beating narrowly Ruislip Eagles (13-11) whereas Great Dane finished in style against Thames (17-7) to finally win the Cup offered by the tournament partner, Kits-Direct.co.uk.

In the women’s event, which is spread over two weekends, a full Great Dane women team took on Thames squad with just seven players available.

Defying the odds, Thames battled hard and proved a strong challenger leading at half time 10-9. The second half was as entertaining with both teams really close. The game had unfortunately to be stopped five minutes before the final whistle due to the injury of a Thames player who is recovering well. Great Dane was winning 23-21.

The Women’s London Cup resumes on Sunday, October 3, with Ruislip Eagles, Olympia and Thames competing at Leyton SCORE Centre from 12pm.

London Handball Cup This Weekend

THE London Handball Association stages it’s pre-season tournament this weekend, with all the top men’s and women’s teams from around the capital competing at the Leyton SCORE Centre.

Great Dane, Thames, Olympia and Ruislip Eagles will all do battle in the women’s event on Saturday from 1-4pm, before finishing their matches on October 3 from 12-3.

And the men’s tournament takes place this Sunday from 12-5pm.

Each game last 30 minutes, providing for plenty of exciting and varied action. Spectators welcome!

Olympia Draw First Blood in Nottingham

OLYMPIA Handball Club drew first blood in the 2010-11 season when they won last weekend’s Nottingham Pre-Season Tournament.

Fielding two teams, Olympia dominated so much that the final was an all-Olympia affair, with their A team winning 13-6 over their B team counterparts.

The Tournament proved a good workout for Olympia, who head to Croatia next month to compete in the European Challenge Trophy.

Split into two groups, the competition was dominated by Olympia whose two sides topped each group.

En-route to the knockout stages Olympia’s A were made to work hard by England Boys, who were using the competition as preparation for the Home Nations Tournament but, suffering from some late withdrawals, lost out 6-7.

Second in their group, Nottingham finished third overall after beating England 9-5.
Nottingham had two of the top goalkeepers in the tournament, with No 1 Dana Mohammed making his England debut against his club side.

Aside from the action on the court, the event was also used as a training weekend for the first group of Technical Officials being trained up for the London 2012 Olympics, who ensured the event ran smoothly.

The event proved a big hit - so much so that next year’s event on September 3-4 is being planned as a two-day event to allow for more teams to take part.

Euro Talks for Scottish Handball

THE development of handball in Scotland continued last week when top officials from the European Handball Federation visited Edinburgh.

EHF President Tor Lian, Vice-President Jean Brihault, Secretary General Michael Wiederer and Development and Education Official Helmut Hoeritsch held talks with Scottish Handball Chairman Stephen Neilson, SportScotland Chief Executive Stewart Harris and SportScotland Partnership Manager Megan Griffiths.

Among other issues on the agenda was possible joint development projects between the EHF and Scottish Handball.

*In other Scottish news, the Scottish Handball Association has opened a new office at the Inverclyde National Sports Centre, which is being staffed part-time by administrator Anne McLaughlin.

The office number is 01475 687820, and Anne works from 1-5pm on Wednesdays and all day Thursday and Friday.

Advanced Handball Apprenticeships Launched

TALENTED young handball stars of the future are being offered the chance to study and train as professional athletes under England Handball’s new Advanced Apprenticeship in Handball Excellence.

Starting in November, the scheme will give 20 of the current County Squad Athletes the chance to be part of the scheme, which lasts two years and is a University entry-level qualification.

Part of the EHA’s first High Performance Centre in Warrington, the scheme looks set to expand to London where a second High Performance Centre is scheduled to open in September 2011.
England Handball Director of Performance, Mick Hegarty, said: “The AASE programme has seen athletes like double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington benefit without compromising her studies.

“This qualification is, without doubt, a significant step for England Handball to support our best young players in their studies, their career prospects and their handball destinies.

“It must not be seen in isolation of the handball community and it is important that our current clubs get on board as they have a vital partnership role to play. I sincerely hope that the handball community embraces this opportunity.”

For more details of the scheme, please go to http://www.englandhandball.com/

Nottingham Tournament This Weekend

THIS Sunday sees the traditional start of the British Handball season - the Nottingham Tournament - which has once again attracted teams from across the country.

Eight teams will be vying for the first silverware of the season in two groups of four, with all matches lasting 20 minutes and taking place at the Sutton Bonington Campus of Nottingham university.

The action begins at 10.15am, and after the group stages there will be crossover games to determine the overall winner.

The final of the tournament is due to start at 6.15pm, with the trophy presentations afterwards.