London GD edge past rivals Ruislip

London GD edged to a thrilling 25-24 victory over arch rivals Ruislip Eagles in the latest action from the English Women’s League.

The match at the new SportHouse facility in Barking was close throughout, although Ruislip had edged ahead 11-13 at the break, only for London GD to hit back and take the win by the narrowest of margins.

Before that clash, Olympia beat Warrington Wolves 36-22 in the day’s other league match. Ten goals from Dorota Basta and nine from Souniv Naess helped them take the win.

But that was not the end of the day for Warrington Wolves, who had a short break before having to play Thames in the EHA Cup two hours later.

However, their efforts took their toll and Warrington went down 34-22, with Thames’ top-scorer being Emilie Enger Has with seven goals.

Newcomers Gedling host tournament

THE new Gedling Warriors Handball Club had their first real run out last weekend, taking on the Universities of Nottingham and Loughborough in a friendly round robin tournament.

Warriors were only formed in September last year and will hope to be competing in the Development Leagues next season.

In their first match they took on Loughborough and although the students had the best of the first half, after the break the Warriors fought back hard and put their opponents under some pressure. Although Loughborough ran out winners 17-13 thanks to a sterling first half performance, the new boys took the second half.

Loughborough were straight back onto court to take on Nottingham and this was a superb advert for Student Handball with the game nip and tuck right up to the last 5 minutes or so when Nottingham just took advantage of a tiring Loughborough team, winning 24-21.

The last match saw Gedling take on Nottingham to try to improve on the 27-9 defeat inflicted on them by the students last December. Nottingham were keen to do well and were only 11-9 down at half time. Once again, Nottingham called on their greater experience to pull away, eventually winning the game 23-14 and, with it, the tournament.

Gedling are looking for as many fixtures as possible between now and next season in an attempt to become more competitive – contact Colin Wills for more details on Colin.Wills@nottingham.ac.uk

Top skills on show in U13 Champs

SOME top handball skills were on show at the National Under-13 Handball Competition in Barking on Saturday, where the new SportHouse facility played host to the regional heats.

More than 300 young people took part in the event, from schools and clubs from across London and the South of England. The top three teams from both the boys and girls competitions will go through to the second round of the competition in May, with the grand finals eventually being held in London in June.

Ark Academy from Wembley won all their games to finish as top girls team, while also going through to the second round are Harris Girls Academy and last year’s finalists Helenswood Girls Academy.

Harris Boys School from Southward won the boys Group 1 event, again with maximum points, and they will be joined in the second round by Woolwich Polytechnic and Ark Academy.

The Boys Group 2 event was won by Erith School, while All Saints Catholic School and Carshalton Boys School also go through.

Carshalton Boys Team Manager Keith Middleton said: 'This has been a fantastic tournament that really showed off the progress that handball has made in the UK in the last couple of years. Lots of high level competition and more importantly hundreds of boys and girls enjoying themselves.”

And Lynn Barker, the Event Co-ordinator at SportHouse, added: “Friday, 16 March, saw the first competition in SportHouse, the under 13 schools completion saw schools from all over London competing in the first round.

“The young people were excited to be playing in this massive centre where the world’s best will be training during the Olympics. For many of the young people it was their first ever competition and both they and their teachers thoroughly enjoyed themselves and it was absolutely brilliant to see.”

* Photos by Mathilde Friggieri

Salford book European slot

SALFORD secured their return to European competition for the first time in nearly 20 years when they beat National League play-off rivals Ruislip Eagles 32-24 on Sunday.

The victory keeps Salford top of the play-off table and extends their unbeaten run to 23 games. It also ensures they will finish in the top three, thereby giving them a spot in the European Challenge Trophy.

Salford's coach Bill Baillie said after the game: "This was a great result for us. Not only has it kept our place at the top of the league but it has also given us a great confidence boost for our next match against reigning league champions London GD. The fact that it has also secured our return to European Competition is just a massive bonus and reflects on all the hard work that has been put in this season.”

Any game against Ruislip is a tough test. Having been leaders of the southern section for much of the season and having defeated Salford on their last three meetings, Ruislip would go into the game as favourites. However, Salford were keen to exorcise past demons and come out of the game with the win they needed to secure a much prized European spot.

The game started off close with both sides swapping early goals, after 10 minutes Salford had managed to retain a slender one goal lead at 4:3. As the half progressed the crowd were entertained by some attractive handball from both sides. But, the strength of the Salford defence combined with their speed and creativity in attack meant that Salford never relinquished their early lead.

With 25 minutes gone Salford were four up, but some late mistakes in the half allowed the southerners to come back to within two at half time, Salford going in ahead 14:12.

The second half started well for Salford as they extended their lead to five goals. However, Ruislip weren't going to give in without a fight and brought the score back to within three. But that was the closest they were to come.

The strength of the Salford defence just proved too much for the Ruislip attack. Every goal scored had to be hard won. The Salford defence was unyielding, so much so that only four shots on the Salford goal came from the six-metre line.

Ruislip's attempts to break through being akin to King Knute trying to stop the tide. A sterling team effort combined with probably the performance of the day from Salford's Matt Lee made sure that just wasn't going to happen.

After 40 minutes of the game the constant pressure told and Salford managed to further extend their lead. After 50 minutes it was back out to 5 goals and by the end of the game the gap had grown to 8. Salford ending up deserved winners by 32 goals to 24.

Notable performances on the day came from Salford's Rafik Tahraoui and Ruislip's Ludovic Cros who both scored eight goals. But, as already mentioned, the performance of the day came from Salford's defensive stalwart Matt Lee.

* In other play-off action, London GD maintained second spot with a 31-20 victory over Manchester, while Cambridge won the clash of the bottom two, beating Leeds Hornets 29-13.

Cup battles provide thrilling entertainment

THE first round of the EHA Cup provided some thrilling handball across the country last weekend, as clubs battled for a place in the last eight of the annual competition.

The match between Manchester University and Liverpool Speke Garston proved a real cracker, with Sugden Sports Centre in Manchester witnessing a high-octane and fast-paced game.

Liverpool Speke Garston continuing their recent improvement and pushed Manchester University all way. A series of missed open goal shots enabled the Manchester team to go in six goals ahead at half time.

The second half was fiercely contested and goals came fast and furiously as both teams raised the tempo, fast breaking by both teams pushed the score up as the teams clinically scored goal for goal throughout the half.

Liverpool Speke Garston hauled back the score in the last ten minutes, going for a man to man press that buckled the Manchester team. Liverpool Speke closed the gap to three goals but the damage done in the first half was to prove their downfall.

Having outscored Manchester in the second half it was not enough and Speke lost out 38-35. The game played was a credit to both teams and English handball.

Elsewhere, National League play-off leaders Salford cruised to a 26-7 victory over Manchester, while at Leyton SCORE Centre in London Cambridge just edged out Olympia 31-29.

Bath University came out 36-27 winners from their match against Warwickshire University, while the final round one match between Deva and Liverpool Wolves will be played on March 17.

Top clash in Play-Off Race

LEADERS Salford take on Ruislip Eagles in the second round of National League play-off matches at the Greenbank Sports Academy in Liverpool on Sunday.

The clash between the teams lying first and third could prove crucial to both side’s hopes of winning the league and going forward to European competition this summer.

In other matches that day, second-placed London GD will be aiming to keep pace with Salford when they take on Manchester, while the play-off’s bottom two teams, Leeds Hornets and Cambridge, will meet.

Thrilling matches in County Championships

THE future of handball in England is bright, if the standard of play on show at the County Championship and North v South Under-16s clash in London last weekend is anything to go by!

Four teams battled for the County title in the event, with Cheshire coming out on top, while Bedfordshire finished second, Merseyside third and London PA East fourth after six entertaining matches.

The games were very close, showing that no one region has the monopoly when it comes to handball skills, and many of the players on show could have bright futures ahead of themselves in the sport.

The day was rounded off by a North v South Under-16s match, which the North won 24-15.

But with just one training session together prior to the match, the south team acquitted themselves well.

Mohamed Elkedim, the coach of the Under-16 South Squad, said: “The tournament was well organised and we saw some good handball. The South team surely with time and more practise will improve more.”

* Photos by Mathilde Friggieri