Manchester go down against Speke Garston

MANCHESTER Handball Club were left reeling this weekend as they completed the final game of the English National League’s Northern Section, going down 19-28 against Liverpool Speke Garston.

Due to traffic problems the Liverpool Speke team started with four players missing and Manchester took full advantage controlling the game throughout the first half. Liverpool Speke Garston persevered keeping in touch to finish half time 14-10 down.

Galvanised by the half time team talk, Liverpool Speke Garston came out all guns blazing and put on a gritty defensive show matching Manchester goal for goal nullifying Karim Hammache in the process.

Manchester still led with 14 minutes to go, but the Liverpool Speke team began to dominate and clawed back the deficit racking in five goals without reply to go ahead. Remarkably Manchester only scored five goals in the second half period as the Liverpool Speke Garston team improved running out worthy winners.

Manchester back to Winning Ways

FOLLOWING the previous week’s disappointing result where they lost out to Nottingham University, Manchester returned to winning ways against Liverpool Speke Garston and won 27-17.

During the first period both defences working hard, scoring kept at a minimum. Speke’s Campillo shooting was wayward as shot after shot missed resulting in Manchester pulling away during the half.

Numerous chances and went begging and the Liverpool Speke Garston team struggled to produce the goals to keep up with an efficient Manchester team, going in half time down at 15-9 in Manchester’s favour.

The second half was more entertaining, Manchester struggled slightly as the Liverpool Speke Garston pressed hard during the half. But once again poor handling came back to haunt the Liverpool Speke Garston team as fast break after fast break broke down and Manchester capitalising to run out 27-17 deserved winners.

In other action in the Northern Section, Deva won 30-21 against University of Manchester.

English National League: Round-Up

SALFORD gave their hopes of winning the English National League’s Northern Section a major boost when they beat the only other unbeaten team, Manchester, 28-21 at Greenbank Sports Academy in Liverpool on Sunday.

The victory leaves Salford with seven wins from seven matches, and seven points clear at the top of the table.

Liverpool Wolves beat battling Deva 29-23 in their clash, while Leeds won 29-22 against Nottingham University.

The game between Liverpool Speke Garston and Manchester University got off to a slow start with both sides struggling to get going being evenly matched in the first half going in 8-8 at the interval.

Both teams never hit the heights, but the Liverpool team edged ahead in the first ten minutes of the second half with two well taken goals by Hughes and McMahon.

However both teams missed a succession of chances, but once again a time suspension at 50 minutes proved to be the home teams downfall as the University students capitalised and gained a three-goal advantage.

Chasing the game in the final minutes Kourniliou fired in three well taken gaols but was insufficient to deny Manchester University who ran out winners at 21-15.

* In the Southern Section, Ruislip Eagles ran out 33-25 winners over Bath University.

* Ruislip Eagles Ladies were also celebrating last weekend after securing a narrow 20-18 victory over old enemies London GD.

Dani Sposi scored 11 goals for the Eagles, while Ulrike Luhmeier was GD’s top-scorer with five.

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.

Clubs Cling to Play-Off Hopes

WITH just a few matches remaining in the normal Men’s English League season, the line-up for the play-off league is still not set with several teams still harbouring hopes of scraping into the end-of-season competition.

The top three teams from both the northern and southern section will go forward to the play-offs and compete for the overall national league title and the right to compete in the European Challenge Cup.

In the north, Salford and Manchester are already through, but the third spot is between the University of Manchester and Nottingham University.

And in the south, Great Dane and Olympia are through to the play-offs, but the final place is between Ruislip Eagles and Cambridge.

There was some thrilling handball played in both regions last weekend, with league newcomers Liverpool Wolves battling to a 16-16 draw with second-placed Manchester, who had previously won nine of their ten matches.

With just eight players travelling to the Greenbank Academy for Sunday’s clash, Manchester came up against a Wolves side who had strength in depth and have an ever-increasing talent base.

9-7 ahead at half time, Manchester couldn’t stop the Wolves biting back to secure a draw.

With results from the normal season carried forward to the play-offs, Salford did themselves a big favour by beating potential play-off rivals Nottingham University 31-25 at Nottingham to maintain their unbeaten record.

And Manchester University also kept their play-off hopes alive with a victory over Deva, although they were made to work hard for the win.

Eight goals from Steven Jameson helped Deva compete with their rivals, but with Berezowski scoring eight goals and Ruiz Varela scoring seven, Manchester University ran out 22-19 winners.

Great Dane secured a narrow 26-24 victory over Olympia at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre to leap-frog their opponents and take over the lead in the southern section.

With Olympia leading 12-10 at half time, Great Dane hit back to secure a win which will also boost Great Dane’s play-off hopes, the result being carried forward to the end of season competition.

Manchester Edge Past Rivals in League Thriller

MANCHESTER Handball Club scraped past rivals Nottingham University 19-18 to maintain top spot in the Northern Section of the Men’s English League.

With just eight players available for the clash, Manchester’s difficult task was made even harder when Rybak was injured early in the game while scoring his first and last goal of the game.

Nottingham took an early lead and went 4-1 ahead before Manchester reacted and drew level.

The Manchester team looked slow. Apart from Liatouji who stood out with eight goals and goalkeeper Belus, the rest of the Mancunians played below their normal level and rarely presented a serious threat to a Nottingham team with an in-form goalkeeper who made seven six-metre saves.

But the Mancunians' defence was strong and a few fast breaks allowed them to build a lead of four goals at half time (11-7).

The second half saw Nottingham narrow the deficit to one or two goals for most of the match and with three minutes left, the three-goal advantage was narrowed down to just one with two consecutive passive play offences dished out to Manchester.

The last seconds of the game were tense, but Manchester kept the lead and overall deserved to win this match.

Elsewhere in the Northern Section, Salford remain unbeaten this season after notching up a 37-22 victory over Deva at Sugden in Manchester.

Great Britain Under-21 ace Aden Woodall scored 16 goals in the win, while fellow GB youngster Jack Hennessey added eight goals.

And the University of Manchester beat Liverpool Speke Garston 27-20 at Greenbank.

* Title hopefuls Nottingham University will be aiming to boost their bid for the Northern Section when they play host to rivals Salford at home on Sunday.

Unbeaten Salford will need to be at their best for the clash against ever-improving Nottingham, who will be aiming to get back to winning ways after losing by just one goal to table-topping Manchester last weekend.

Elsewhere, at Greenbank Academy in Liverpool Deva take on Manchester university, while Liverpool Wolves play Manchester.

And in the South, Great Dane take on Olympia in the Women’s League at 12noon at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre before Olympia and Great Dane men’s teams meet at 2pm at the same venue.

Salford Topple League Leaders

THE last two unbeaten teams in the English League’s northern section locked horns on Sunday, and fought out a superb match at Sugden Sports Centre in Manchester.

Manchester were top of the league, while local rivals Salford were second and snapping at their heels.

Salford began at a good pace and were playing some exciting handball which opened up a Manchester defence which was not performing as efficiently as in their past few matches.

After 15 minutes, Salford had forged into a 13-4 lead, forcing Manchester into a timeout to reorganise.

Manchester came back into the game and stopped Salford from every corner of the court, with clinical fast breaks from Georgiou and Hammache, thus levelling at 13-13 with an on-the-buzzer shot from Girost.

The second half started well for Manchester who took a two-goal lead. But the Mancunians began to accumulate mistakes, with poor ball circulation leading to too many ball losses, poor shots from the wings and almost no initiative from nine metres.

In the meantime Salford had reorganised, and equalised soon before taking a deserved lead, and extending to a 29-25 victory.

Josh Hampson scored nine times for Salford, as did Georgiou for Manchester.

Underdogs Ruislip Secure EHA Cup

RUISLIP Eagles upset the form book when they were crowned EHA Cup champions after a thrilling 26-25 victory over Manchester in the final at the Brentwood Centre in Essex on Saturday.

With two victories over National League champions Great Dane to their credit, Manchester began the match as hot favourites for victory. But Ruislip were determined to stop them.

Three unanswered goals gave Ruislip a good start to the game. However, Manchester came back quickly into the game thanks to Celian Girost, first levelling and then taking a narrow lead.

Both goalkeepers, Vladimir Belus and Stefan Bauer, made fine saves throughout the first half, which ended with Manchester just ahead at 17-14.

The Eagles came back with determination, despite Manchester holding on to their three-goal lead for most of the second half.

With ten minutes left Manchester had opened up their lead to five goals, but the Eagles never gave up and strengthened up their defence to stop Manchester doing any more damage.

Andrius Rinkevicius was outstanding in Ruislip's goal, making crucial saves, and an excellent turnover of players made sure the Ruislip team gave it all until the end.

Goal after goal, the Eagles came back and made a fantastic finish, levelling at 25-25 with ten seconds left.

The Eagles’ big chance came with a seven-metre penalty, and Hugo Mazel kept his cool to seal a brilliant victory.

"We were so enthused to play this final,” said Ruislip captain Marc Fayemi afterwards. “We just felt good and confident we could resist the Manchester HC team.

“We wanted to make this final special to us and we could not ask more with such a stunning scenario. And to see all your team-mates so happy to win this Cup, and it is just fabulous to lift the trophy and enjoy such moments together!"

* Cambridge won the Men’s EHA Plate after overcoming Manchester University 28-18 in the final.

Paco Fernandez scored five as Cambridge took a comfortable victory, while Massimi, Diaz and Sevin all scored four goals towards their victory.

League Champs Beaten in Final Clash

BATTLING Manchester secured a thrilling 29-28 victory over National League champions Great Dane in the final English National League play-off matches at the Greenbank Academy in Liverpool on Sunday.

The in-form side scraped past Great Dane by the narrowest of margins, and will be aiming to take that form into the EHA Cup final on June 5 when they play Ruislip at the Brentwood Centre in Essex.

Eight goals from Phillip (pictured) was not enough to stop Great Dane losing out, with Manchester’s Lasek also scoring eight and Girost seven.

In other Play-off action, Cambridge took a bare seven-man team for their clash with Nottingham, but still managed to scrape a 24-22 victory, with Kemmer scoring seven and Massimi five.

Meanwhile, Olympia ended their domestic season on a high when they beat Salford 45-29. El Hawary scored nine and Bobrowski seven to help Olympia to a comfortable victory which secures second spot for them.

Overtime Thriller in EHA Cup Semi Clash

MANCHESTER reached the final of the EHA Men’s Cup after a thrilling extra-time victory over Olympia in their semi final clash at Belle Vue in Manchester on Sunday.

The victory not only gives Manchester a place in the Cup final on June 5, but gives them revenge for the narrow defeat they suffered to Olympia three weeks ago, which effectively ended their push for the National League title.

Manchester led 19-10 at half time, but Olympia clawed it back to 32-32 at the end of normal time, before the home side edged ahead in extra time.

Nine goals down at the break, Olympia’s impressive 3-2-1 defence caused many ball losses to Manchester's static attacks, and several consecutive fast breaks reduced the deficit to four before eventually equalizing with a few minutes to go.

Manchester looked stunned for much of the second half, and Olympia went two goals ahead with two minutes left.

The last few seconds of the game saw Olympia with possession with a one-goal lead, but they lost the ball and Lasek and Hammache combining on a 2 v 2 to score with just two seconds remaining.

However, Olympia had used a lot of energy to send the game into extra time, while Manchester heeded the wake-up call.

They took a two-goal lead which they kept over the first five minute half. Starting with the ball in the second half of extra time, they extended the lead to three. Although Olympia scored some important goals, Manchester replied systematically and finished the game with a Kempa.

Great Dane Preparing for Clash with Manchester

NEWLY-crowned National League champions Great Dane take on rivals Manchester in their final play-off match on Sunday.

Their clash is the last of three matches at the Greenbank Academy in Liverpool, and is also their last domestic action of the season.

The programme opens at 11.30am with Salford taking on second-placed Olympia. Both those teams lost out narrowly in Cup semi finals last weekend, and will be eager to return to winning ways.

Nottingham take on Cambridge at 1.30pm, with Cambridge hoping to make up for the disappointment of losing narrowly to Liverpool in the semi final of the EHA Plate on Sunday.

Reigning Champions Great Dane clinched the National League title once again when they beat Salford 47-14 in Northampton last week.

Their victory means they cannot now be caught with one game remaining, while the battle for second continues to rage on into the final games.

Ruislip Reach Cup Final

Manchester will meet Ruislip Eagles in the final on June 5 at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, after they scraped past 31-28 in another great match in Warrington on Saturday.

Salford were ahead for much of the first half, but Ruislip edged ahead 12-13 at half time.
Both goalkeepers were in good form, but Ruislip’s had a cracking ten minute spell in the second half where he saved five six-metre shots, allowing his team to catch Salford.

To their credit Salford never gave up and closed to just one goal with three minutes to go, but some fouls cost two players a two-minute suspension, allowing Ruislip to close the game down.

Olympia Overcome Travel Problems to Beat Manchester

AFTER overcoming travel problems which saw them without their rented minibus to Manchester, Olympia women reached the semi finals of the EHA Cup after scraping a narrow 18-17 win over Manchester.

With their travel plans scuppered when their rented minibus fell through, the team bought their own minibus to travel North - and the effort certainly paid off with a spot in the last four secured.

Manchester’s right winger Loewman ran riot in the early stages and scored repeatedly. However, after a timeout and some words from their coach, Olympia recovered in the second half and ran up a three-goal lead with only a few minutes to go.

However, only some very strong defending in the last few seconds saw the team hold on to a one-goal lead and claim the game 18-17.

Elsewhere in the women’s EHA Cup, Deva beat Cambridge 28-23.

Manchester End Great Dane's Unbeaten Run

MANCHESTER threw their National League title hopes a lifeline on Sunday when they beat reigning champions Great Dane, bringing an end to their two-season domestic unbeaten run.

The thrilling 26-25 victory leaves Manchester just one point behind Great Dane. While both sides have three play-off matches remaining, the Manchester v Great Dane match scheduled for May 23 could well turn out to be the title decider.

Both sides began with strong defences and a physical approach, but the Manchester goalkeepers Deak and Belus (pictured) gave them an edge in the first and second halves respectively.

There was never more than a couple of goals between the two sides as the lead changed hands frequently, but Manchester led 12-10 at the break.

The closing stages of an intense match led to a player being sent off for both sides, but Manchester thought they had done enough for the win with Lasek wrong-footing the Danes keeper while under pressure.

Great Dane hit back in search of an equaliser with 30 seconds left, however, the Manchester defence held out well to secure a one-point victory.

In the day’s other match, an under-strength Salford took on Olympia with just five players as much of their team was held up because of an accident on the motorway.

Olympia ran out convincing and predictable 50-14 winners, but Salford should be back to full strength for the next set of play-off matches on April 25, which are due to be held at the Greenbank Academy in Liverpool.

Make or Break Time For Play-Off Hopes

THIS Sunday could prove to be make or break time for the title ambitions of several of the teams in the English League Play-offs.

Unbeaten leaders Great Dane take on second-placed Manchester who realistically need to win to keep their title hopes alive. But more than that, their hopes of finishing in the top three - and securing a spot in European competition - could come under threat if Olympia beat Salford.

Both those teams could still make the top three and will be pushing for victory.

The first game of the day at Leyton SCORE Centre is the Olympia v Salford clash at 2.

Finally, the last game at 4pm is the clash of the top two, Great Dane and Manchester.