Wolves clinch EHA Cup quarter final spot

LIVERPOOL Wolves booked their place in the quarter finals of the EHA Men’s Cup with a 32-21 victory over Deva at the Greenbank Sports Academy in Liverpool on Sunday.

The Wolves started with an aggressive 5-1 defence which brought good results, allowing them to catch Deva on the break and obtain a comfortable six-goal lead throughout the first half.

Goals were coming from both teams, however, and Liverpool started stalling towards the end of the first half thanks to a deep defence from Deva which impeded Liverpool from moving the ball at a fast pace.

The second half started with Deva playing an aggressive 4-2 defence, followed by quick breakthroughs, and they managed to edge as close as four goals down. This could have gone very wrong for Liverpool, but somehow the Wolves managed to stop the tide against them and slowly, started to get over Deva's defensive efforts.

Once the technical faults on Liverpool's part started to fall, Deva could not get fast breaks, and struggled against the solid 5-1 defence. The physical strain started to show in both teams, but maybe due to inexperience, this lead to late tackles from the Deva defence, and a continuous six minutes with at least one man down. Liverpool utilised the chances and the score difference kept increasing until the final whistle, giving a clear victory for Liverpool in the end.

* This weekend, the National League play-offs resume with three matches being staged at the new SportHouse facility in Barking.

The key clash of the afternoon looks set to be the top-two match-up of London GD v Salford, while the other matches are Ruislip Eagles v Leeds Hornets and Cambridge v Manchester.

Play-off Hopes on Hold for Wolves

LIVERPOOL Wolves’ hopes of reaching the end of season play-offs will have to be put on hold for another week after they were beaten 25-20 by Leeds Hornets in the National League Northern Section on Sunday.

Both teams kept scoring at the beginning of the match. This wasn't Liverpool Wolves’ plan, who were hoping their previously successful 5:1 defence would bear better results than that.

However, both left half and left winger from Leeds, polish players Ivojciech Bienias and Marcin Cwik proved too difficult to mark for the young Liverpool defence and kept scoring throughout the half with not much opposition.

On the other side of the court, Liverpool Wolves struggled with an old enemy of theirs: missing clear shots on the goal. Both Leeds goalkeepers excelled in the game and stopped Liverpool Wolves from being able to keep up with Leeds scoring run.

Towards the end of the half, Liverpool Wolves switched to a deep defence marking the top Leeds players, and that halted Leeds attack. Unfortunately, sometimes due to an aggressive Leeds defence and sometimes due to their own fault, the Wolves kept missing shots and the goal difference remained three-up for Leeds at half time.

The second half started as the previous one finished. Liverpool Wolves kept marking Leeds’ two best players. Things were not going to get better for Leeds unless the other players in the court stepped up to the occasion and were able to be dangerous and score goals. And so they did.

Kami Katebi and Danial Skuza kept moving without the ball to achieve penetrations against a sometimes paralysed back defence from Liverpool. Leeds kept finding gaps, and so the distance between the teams grew bigger, as Liverpool's attack didn't get much better, with missing shots from almost every position, including line, wing, half, centre and even penalties!

Mid-way through the second half the Leeds players started to get tired and their aggressive defence became sometimes too dangerous. The referees started giving them two minutes with 10 minutes to finish the game, but Liverpool only managed to cut the goal difference by three and the final score was a victory for Leeds: 20-25.

This victory leaves the table very open in the fight for the third place for the play offs. Deva, with three matches to go, and Leeds and Liverpool Wolves, with two each, can all still go through if they win their remaining games.

Wolves Made to Work in Derby Clash

The always intense Liverpool derby between Liverpool Wolves and Speke took place last weekend at Greenbank Sports Academy in the City as the English National League’s northern section continued.

Liverpool Wolves were continuing their bid to reach the play-offs, while for Speke Garston this was all about rivalry and pride, as their play-off options are very distant.

The game started with two strong defences, marking the two high scorers in both teams, left half Perez for Speke and Nuno Carvalho for Liverpool.

The strong defences, combined with some good saves from both goalkeepers, helped to keep the score low. It wasn't a pretty handball game: The ball wasn't moving swiftly and all came down to one on ones.

This is when the young Wolves starting showing what they are made of. Liverpool Wolves played five Under-18 players who consistently scored. Brian Au from the wing, Callum McKenzie scoring some cracking goals from the right half, and Przemyslaw Trzeciecki creating screens for all of them. Liverpool Wolves managed to pull some extra breaks towards the end of the first half getting a four-goal lead at half time.

But Speke Garston weren't finished. A commendable fighting spirit and a superbly positioned defence helped them to erase the goal difference bit by bit and before anyone realised it, they were only one goal down with 15 minutes to go.

At that point Liverpool Wolves needed something to lift their spirits, and that came in the form of a superb double penalty save from young goalkeeper Bradders! Liverpool Wolves found their speed again and the day was culminated with a Kempa goal from Liam Welsby, all in his first ever appearance with Liverpool Wolves.

The final result was 27-21 to Liverpool Wolves. But Speke Garston never gave up, and this year have shown a great handball club spirit and brought new lads to the sport, giving them court time and doing a great job with young lads in the community.

Watch them when their lads get more experience next year!

Wolves Devour Students

LIVERPOOL Wolves notched up an emphatic 31-16 victory over Nottingham University on Sunday to maintain their hopes of reaching the end of season play-offs.

Liverpool Wolves came to this match with a point to prove after ending a four-year losing streak against Manchester the previous week. But could they maintain their form and pose themselves as a likely play-off candidate? Nottingham was expected to be a tough rival, having won both matches against Liverpool last year.

The match started very positively for Liverpool. The 5:1 defence that worked so well against Manchester caused Nottingham endless trouble, giving Liverpool an early 6-1 lead.

Through the first half, Nottingham came back eventually into the game and cut the distance down to just 2 goals. At that point, several good defensive actions gave Liverpool Wolves quick breaks, with goals coming from both wingers, Brian Au and Michael Irving.

To top everything up, Nuno Carvalho's shooting from outside the nine-metre line kept opening Nottingham's defence, and the result at half time was a 10-goal lead for Liverpool.

The second half was a similar story. Nottingham showed signs of a reaction at the beginning of it, but eventually the distance in the score took its toll, and Liverpool Wolves gave themselves a morale boost with just four more games to go.

Salford Beat Rivals Liverpool Wolves

SALFORD opened up a five-point lead at the top of the National League (North) table after they overcame previously unbeaten Liverpool Wolves 35-16 in their latest match at Greenbank Sports Academy in Liverpool.

A hard-fought match was in prospect between the teams first and second in the league, not least because two young Wolves players moved to Salford in the summer.

But while Salford had a full-strength team, Liverpool had just two on the bench because of injuries and unavailabilities.

Nevertheless, the game started with great intensity, Salford playing a 5-1 aggressive defence and Liverpool Wolves choosing a slightly more conservative deep 6 nil defence.

The first 20 minutes showed moments of very good defensive handball. Both teams were holding each other with hard tough defences. Unfortunately, Liverpool ran out of steam as their lack of replacements took its toll.

Tiredness caused late tackles and several two-minute exclusions, which Salford punished and used to open up a 13-6 lead at the break.

The second half was all Salford as they stepped up several gears.

It was 11 minutes later when Liverpool scored their next goal, but in the meantime Salford had scored 10, effective killing the game as a contest and they went on to win 35-16.

Notable performances came from Salford's playmaker Ciaran Williams with 9 assists, while Stuart Latchford and Aden Woodall scored six goals apiece.

The best players for Liverpool Wolves were a never-stop-fighting Sean Feery and Stu Clark in goal who, with some fantastic saves, kept the goal difference in check.

In other action at Greenbank, Manchester maintained their unbeaten record with a 30-24 victory over Nottingham University with Georgiou top-scoring with nine goals.

University of Manchester secured their first victory of the season with a 21-20 win over Leeds Hornets, while Deva beat Liverpool Speke Garston 28-20.

* In the Southern Section, Bath were unlucky not to secure their first league win of the season over Oxford University on Sunday.

Level at 13-13 at half time, they were just edged out 29-32 by their rivals, who are second in the table.

Olympia battled to a narrow 21-19 victory over Ruislip Eagles, despite only having a bare seven players for the clash while the Eagles had 13.

Mohammed El Hawary scored nine for Olympia, while Toufik Haddadou added four.

And early league leaders London GD won 36-23 over Cambridge to maintain their top of the table position and give their points difference a major boost.

English National League: Round-Up

EARLY leaders Salford take on Liverpool Wolves in a clash of two unbeaten teams at Greenbank Sports Academy in the Men’s National League Northern Section of Sunday.

Salford have won all four of their games so far while Liverpool have won three, but something must give this Sunday in what promises to be a close encounter.

Liverpool Wolves took on City rivals Liverpool Speke Garston last weekend and ran out 26-15 winners.

The opening 10 minutes of the first half were very intense from Speke Garston. Their deep 5-1 defence disturbed Liverpool Wolves attack. And to add to it, Liverpool Wolves defence was quiet and apathetic which lead to an early lead for Speke Garston. Their left back was on top form, scoring great goals from the nine-metre line.

Liverpool Wolves managed to slowly get back into the game. With a deep defence focused on Speke Garston left back, Liverpool Wolves got close in the score and after the attack got better, finally manage to overtake them.

From then on the goal difference just kept growing for Liverpool Wolves. Both individual actions and some good moves resulted in successful attacks, and by stopping their best attacking player, Speke Garston attack stalled.

Towards the end of the match Speke Garston cut a few more goals, due again to a loss of Liverpool Wolves' concentration.

In summary, the goal difference could have been greater had it not been for Speke Garston's goalkeeper, who did some tremendous saves throughout the match.

* Last weekend Salford took on Manchester University who, despite their strong form over the last couple of seasons, have proved to be a bogey team for Salford.

Indeed, last season the university side where the only team in the north that managed to take any points from Salford when they drew 31-31 last October.

This time round though Salford made no mistake and ran out 36-13 winners.

The side from the university were never really ever in the game, being 7-3 down after 10 minutes and 17-7 down at half time.

However, some good saves from Joe Hodgson in the University's goal did at least keep the Salford score below 40.

In the other match in the North last weekend Manchester beat Leeds Hornets 25-13.

* Oxford University ran out narrow 28-25 winners over Olympia in the opening set of matches in the Men’s National League Southern Section last weekend.

Eight goals from Abdullah Alshammari helped Oxford to victory, while Olympia’s top scorer was Christophe Hunault with seven.

Ruislip Eagles beat Cambridge 25-19 with Martin Kubisa scoring five for the Eagles.

And London GD ran out 21-31 winners over Bath, a strong second half comeback giving them the win after having been 12-11 down at the break.

In the Women’s National League, London GD beat Olympia 16-11 to get their league campaign off to a winning start.

Manchester March on in English League

MANCHESTER Handball Club recorded their fourth straight victory to go top of the English League on Saturday, but they were made to work for the win by Liverpool Wolves.

Six first half goals from Girost helped Manchester to a 15-9 lead at the break, with their halves creating gaps between the defenders by moving the ball around and taking several six-metre shots.

But Liverpool hit back hard and out-scored their opponents in the second half, but it was not quite enough to overhaul the deficit.

The Wolves brought a new defending tactic into the second period, and Manchester struggled to adapt their attacks. But despite their motivation and success at shooting, Liverpool could only close to within four goals.

* This Sunday, Manchester will be aiming to keep their winning run going when they take on Nottingham University at their Sutton Bonnington Campus.

In other scheduled matches, Salford play Deva, Liverpool Wolves take on Wirral, and it’s Speke Garston v University of Manchester, all at Greenbank.

In the Southern Section, Great Dane will play arch-rivals Olympia at Leyton, while Cambridge and Bath University are due to play at Moulton in Northampton.

National League: Wolves Begin to Bite

NATIONAL League newcomers Liverpool Wolves maintained their strong start to the season with a 33-19 victory over fellow new boys Deva at Birchwood Sports Centre on Sunday.

Both teams were quick out of the blocks to put pressure on each other, and early in the match Deva forced a string of spectacular saves from Liverpool’s in-form goalkeeper Yetis Calis.

The first stages of the match saw the two teams locked in an end-to-end battle, with perhaps the pace forcing too many careless turnovers and missed opportunities from both sides.

However, it wasn’t long before Liverpool Wolves found their form and eased into an early lead. Deva’s defence was highly physical but the Wolves were strong on the ball and managed to make the most of their opportunities in the constant six metre line tussles.

In other action, Olympia beat Ruislip Eagles 23-21 in the southern section of the league with both goalkeepers Rinkevicius and Zamani in good form.

* Wolves mascot Wolfie entertained the crowd with a penalty challenge at half time, which was won by 11- year-old George Roberts who was presented with a mini handball for his efforts.