Eagles Overcome Olympia

RUISLIP Eagles Women continued their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 29 -11 victory over Olympia.

It was a victory that came at a high price however, as the champions suffered yet another serious injury - this time one of their key defenders and left back Kerstin Pappenfuss with a ruptured Achilles.

This is their second major injury already this season, following the knee injury to captain Zsuzsi Telek. Olympia also suffered several injuries and an illness which also made it difficult for them to compete with Ruislip in the second half.

Olympia kept pace with Ruislip for large parts of the first half in a low scoring start but gradually Ruislip started to pull away and build a lead that they would never lose with Dani Sposi rattling in the goals, eventually scoring 14.

At one point, Olympia were down to just 6 court players including the keeper, as they battled to sort out their injuries and in this time Ruislip were able to fast break and take advantage of the additional player.

Ruislip will hope for no further injuries to their already weakened squad as they face Great Dane on Sunday morning.

Olympia Claim Europe Spot

OLYMPIA overcame a combatant Manchester side without too much discomfort in the day’s second game, winning 28-21 to send them above Salford in the quest for the third European spot.

Knowing that a win would pile the pressure on Salford in the final game, Olympia started strongly and took an early lead and were looking solid at 4-1 up after 10 minutes. However, with Zsolt Deak in Manchester’s goal pulling off a sting of fine saves Olympia’s domination wasn’t reflected in the score line as Manchester pulled it back to 7-5.

Manchester’s aggressive defending style saw them concede three first half penalties but their robustness and tenacity ensured they remained within touching distance of Olympia, heading for the break only 13-10 down. However, a noisy crowd helped cheer Olympia on and they opened up a 21-14 lead.

Despite a lack of replacements, Manchester battled on and with the gap only five goals with ten minutes left, Olympia clung on nervously to their lead and when the whistle blew there were muted celebrations as they waited for the Salford result to confirm their spot in Europe.

Women's Cup: It's Eagles v Olympia!

THE top two teams in the English Women’s League, Ruislip and Olympia will meet each other in the final of the EHA Cup final on June 4.

Ruislip Eagles won through to the final with a hard-fought 18-11 victory over Great Dane, with Dreksler scoring six goals.

Olympia made it to the final with a narrow 31-27 win over Deva, with their top-scorer being Bourkab with an impressive ten goals, while Torgnes bagged nine.

Basta and Popa both scored ten goals for Deva, but it was not enough to secure victory.

Eagles Overpower Olympia

RUISLIP Eagles took a big step towards winning back the English Women’s League title with a comprehensive 40-23 victory over title challengers Olympia at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London on Sunday.

But the final scoreline certainly did not look likely after the first 20 minutes when both sides played well, and it went goal for goal with Olympia's new-look attack showing the form which helped them beat Great Dane recently.

Ruislip were playing well in attack, but were not dealing so well with the threat of Bekker and Bourkan but gradually they began to exert more pressure, especially from the wings, and went in at half time with a two-goal advantage.

The second half was a completely different affair with Ruislip putting in their best 30 minutes of the season with a much better defensive performance and a return to their fast break game. Telek and Sposi (pictured) were in great form on the counter but coach Mel Chowns was pleased with the whole teams performance.

“We had watched Olympia beat Great Dane and knew that we had to be on our game to secure the two points as they are a much improved side with some new good players,” she said. “This makes this season so good as each game is challenging but I was so pleased with our play in the second half as it was definitely our best all-round play for a while.”

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.