Tryst Battle to Narrow Win

TRYST secured a narrow 30-29 victory over rivals Edinburgh, ensuring they stay second in the league after a thrilling clash in the Scottish League last weekend.

They were 16-14 ahead at half time, although the score changed hands many times during the first 30 minutes. Both teams managed to score from fast breaks and set plays and it was only at the last minutes of the first half that Tryst took advantage of an Edinburgh two-minute suspension to go ahead by two goals.

At the beginning of the second half Tryst tried to finish off the game after getting a four-goal lead. Edinburgh was determined to stay in the game and their hard working defence paid off when they equalised with few minutes to go.

It remained goal for goal for a tense period of a few minutes, with both sides well-matched and having the measure of the other.

The last minute of the game wasn’t for the faint hearted; both teams could have won the game but in the end Tryst finished on top – final score 30-29.

Johnnie McAleer scored nine and Mark McLaughlan five goals for Tryst, and Vincent Martinez added eight and Pavelas Venediktouas six for Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, Glasgow beat East Kilbride 45-26.

After last week’s performance against Tryst, EK was hoping to challenge another league contestant, Glasgow.

But Glasgow took the lead from the first minutes of the game and never looked back. Both teams attacked consistently and scored plenty of goals in a high scoring game, finishing the first half 21-16 for Glasgow.

In the second half Glasgow managed to continue in the same tempo and scored a lot of goals from fast breaks, while they improved their defensive performance closing the gaps for EK key players.

Unfortunately EK run out of steam towards the end of the game and although they tried to keep the score as low as possible they couldn’t stop Glasgow scoring less than 45 goals.

Charles Razimbaud scored 12 and Danos Sagias eight for Glasgow, and Laszo Csomo 10 and Andy Wallace 7 goals for EK82.

Edinburgh will take on Dundee on Saturday 10th Dec at Blackburn, while Glasgow play Tryst at Cumbernauld on the 17th Dec which will determine which team will go into the Christmas break unbeaten.

Winning Start for Champions Tryst

REIGNING Scottish League champions Tryst began their 2011-12 season with a victory, beating Division One newcomers Dundee 34-24.

The league has split into two Divisions with five teams competing in the First Division, while another six are in the Second Division, which is a Development League.

Other results from the first round of matches saw last season’s runners-up Glasgow beat Dundee 44-20, while Edinburgh won 38-23 over East Kilbride.

Salford Win East Kilbride Tournament

SALFORD were crowned champions of the East Kilbride International Tournament in Scotland last weekend, coming out on top after a thrilling weekend of matches.

Despite having an average age of just 19, Salford managed to take the title at the inaugural tournament which saw teams from both sides of the border as well as Germany do battle.

The men’s event included East Kilbride, Tryst 77 and Scotland Under-23s from north of the border, English teams included Salford and Liverpool Speke Garston and Germany outfit HSG Soest gave the event a real international flavour.

And for the women, East Kilbride took on Glasgow and Tryst 77.

Salford went unbeaten throughout the tournament, which saw them face some determined and experienced opponents.

In the final on Sunday they faced Tryst, whose line-up included some talented and very experienced players.

But Salford opened up an early lead and never looked back, eventually winning 15-11.

Tryst Edge to Scottish Cup Victory

TRYST secured the Scottish Cup in style on Saturday, beating rivals Gracemount 33-29 after a thrilling day of handball.

The league leaders are on track to do the double after beating Gracemount in the Cup final, but they were made to battle all the way for victory.

The match was close throughout, but towards the end both sides found themselves a man down and it was Tryst who adapted better to clinch the win.

In the women’s final Glasgow overwhelmed Gracemount 32-13 to secure victory over an Edinburgh side which was missing a couple of key players.

Earlier in the day East Kilbride beat Ayr 16-13 in the Under-16 boys final, with their experience proving key, while Livingston battled back from a four-goal deficit at half time in the Under-16 girls final to beat East Kilbride 18-13.

A stronger squad proved the difference for East Kilbride, who beat an under-strength Livingston team 32-19 in the Under-14 final, while East Kilbride came out on top after a well-fought five-team mini tournament for the Under-12s, narrowly beating Gracemount in the final.

Scottish Cup Finals: Line-up Confirmed

TRYST will play Gracemount in the final of the Men’s Scottish Cup after two thrilling semi final clashes took place last weekend.

The top two teams in Scotland, Glasgow and Tryst, did battle in the first semi final which was supposed to be a close affair. But with Glasgow fielding just the bare seven players due to injuries and unavailabilities, Tryst ran out 40-32 winners.

Tryst started very strongly and opened up a 5-1 lead after just a few minutes, and Glasgow’s number of players reduced even further when their centre player got a red card during the first half.

To compound the problems, one of their court players as well as their goalkeeper picked up injuries, but managed to stay on court for the rest of the game.

Tryst kept the goal difference at around 7-8 goals and looked comfortable, but Glasgow fought on and reduced Tryst’s lead to 3-4 goals, mainly due to Danos Sagias with 17 goals.

However, they didn’t have the energy to get closer against Tryst’s full team.

Sagias was the game’s top-scorer, while for Tryst Mark McLaughlan scored nine and Gary McCafferty 7.

The other semi final was a closer affair, with Gracemount scraping past East Kilbride 30-29.
EK’s strength in attack surprised their rivals, but it wasn’t enough to make it to the final. Mick Lavery and Jose Benavidez both scored six for EK, while Christian Wolf (9) and Vincent Martinez (7) were Glasgow’s best.

Lottery Win for Tryst Handball Club

TRYST 77 Handball Club in Scotland has been awarded £1,600 to help with their Handball For All scheme.

The grant was awarded by the People’s Postcode Lottery to support the scheme, which aims to increase awareness of the club and participation in the sport across all age groups by providing fun and enjoyable coaching for all that will also improve health and fitness.

People’s Postcode Trust Advisor Clare Oliver said: “The project is one which will hugely benefit the surrounding community, and People’s Postcode Trust is delighted to be a part of it.

“Three pounds from every monthly ticket is awarded to charities, and People’s Postcode Trust has already received more than £1.7 million, which has funded 306 projects across Great Britain.”

Project Manager Dennis Brown said “We’re so pleased to have been successful in our application. We’d like to say a massive thank you to the players of People’s Postcode Lottery, as this will make such a difference to us, and the local community.”

Scottish Men's League: Big Wins on Opening Day

THE top three sides in the Scottish League started their season on a high, securing big victories in their opening matches at the Blackburn Community Centre in West Lothian on Sunday.

With a new coach and some new players on show, Glasgow wanted to start on a high against East Kilbride. And so it proved as they eased to a 57-22 victory.

Glasgow started the match with some aggressive defending, and soon opened up a big lead with several breaks.

Ahead 26-10 at half time, Glasgow continued their free-scoring ways to take victory, with Danos Sagias and Fran Cuellar scoring nine goals each, while Bora Sieng added seven. For East Kilbride, Kris Szulc scored eight and Colin Reid five.

Last year’s league and cup champions Gracemount Edinburgh also secured a good win, but had to work hard to beat Liberton, 44-33.

Nicolas Loizou was in good form for Liberton, scoring plenty of goals to keep Gracemount’s lead to just 23-18 at the break.

After half time Gracemount improved their defence and scoring accuracy, while Liberton tired with a small squad limiting substitutions.

Ten goals from Christian Wolf made him top-scorer, while Allan Stokes and newcomer Jens Frederiksen both scored nine. For Liberton Loizou scored nine, while Pierre Mignotte and Christoph Schllitx scored six each.

Finally, Tryst showed no mercy to newcomers Dumfries, hammering them 57-13.

Tryst managed to convert almost all of their scoring opportunities in the first half and with strong defence they ended with a 22-goal lead by the break, and they continued to dominate in the second half.

Bruce Hunter scored 11 goals, while Brian Bartlett and Darren Fisher added seven each.

* This Sunday, fixtures are at Ravenscraig Leisure Centre in Motherwell and see Glasgow play Liberton, Tryst play East Kilbride and Gracemount play Dumfries.

Teams Head to Sweden for Partille Cup

TEAMS from England and Scotland are in Gothenburg, Sweden, preparing to take part in the 40th edition of one of the world’s biggest handball tournaments, the Partille Cup.

Beginning today (Wednesday), the event goes on until Sunday and has attracted almost 1,000 teams from around 50 different countries.

England teams will play in both the boys and girls Under-16 events, and are attending as part of the event’s special Olympic Solidarity Project, which encourages teams from countries where handball is not a major sport to come along and take part. As well as England, teams from India, America, China, Benin, Gabon and Nigeria are also present as part of the scheme.

Three Scottish teams are also taking part - Tryst Under-16 girls, Tryst Under-18 boys and Gracemount Under-13 boys - as well as the Great Britain Men’s Under-21 side.

The England squads’ every move will be recorded by analyst Wayne Lang, whose thoughts were recorded on the Partille Cup website.

“We are going to meet players who have been playing the sport since they were seven years old. Our teams are here to watch and learn and to try out the new things they have learnt during the week.

”But England is on their way and handball wins new ground slowly but surely.

”Handball is up to an exciting future. And maybe the English national team in handball win a World Championship gold before the national football team does!”

All the British teams at Partille will play at least five group games, before moving on to the knockout stages at the weekend.

For more information about fixtures and results, go to www.partillecup.com/eng

Gracemount Add Scottish Cup to League Title

LEAGUE champions Gracemount completed double when they won the Scottish Cup on penalties on Sunday.

Tied at 23-23 after normal time, Gracemount and Tryst were level at 25-25 after extra time, leading to penalties which gave Gracemount a 31-29 win.

In other Cup action, Glasgow beat Tryst 35-16 in the Women’s Cup, while East Kilbride won both the Under-16 boys and girls events.