EHA Cup finals this Saturday

CRYSTAL Palace National Sports Centre is the venue for England Handball’s finals day this Saturday, a great chance to see some of the best handball the country has to offer!

Four great matches have been lined up, and for the participants it will mark the end of a long season of handball action which has seen them reach the final hurdle.
The EHA Men’s Plate will see Deva and Olympia do battle at 11.30am, with the presentation to the winner at 12.40pm.

The Under-18 Girls Cup final sees North East Manchester Hawks take on Wirral at 1.20pm, with the presentations following at 2.20pm.

The Hawks are also in the Under-18 Boys final and face Warrington at 2.35pm, with presentations at 3.55pm.

Finally, the EHA Women’s Cup final will see London GD take on Ruislip Eagles at 4.50pm, with presentations at 6pm.

The final of the EHA Men’s Cup will take place at Bethnal Green on June 30 between Salford and London GD.

Ruislip Eagles women win the league

RUISLIP Eagles Ladies successfully defended their National League title by securing a comfortable 32-20 win against Olympia on Sunday.

With London GD fielding a weakened team and unexpectedly losing their final game against Thames in the match before, Ruislip had the luxury of knowing that they were champions again before the match even started but were determined to finish with another victory.

The match was tightly contested throughout the first half with Olympia’s Dorota Basta playing an influential part but gradually Eagles exerted their influence over the game and went in at half time with a two goal lead.

From then on the result was never in doubt as Ruislip stepped up with the fast breaks and Dani Sposi scored 10 goals to ensure the comfortable win but it was not a match that pleased coach Mel Chowns from an aesthetic point of view.

“I am delighted we have won the league again but this was not a pretty match for the spectators and not our best performance but I guess that doesn’t matter on a day like today. We have had a very tough season with some horrendous injuries to key players so I am very proud of the team to keep going and secure another title.”

Ruislip Eagles and London GD will contest the Cup Final on June 9th but Ruislip could well be without Coach Chowns and Dani Sposi who are on GB duty in Spain.

Warrington shock Olympia in EHA Cup

Warrington Wolves pulled off a shock victory versus last year’s beaten finalists Olympia on Sunday to march on in the EHA Cup.

This feat was made all the more fantastic by the fact that their squad contained only 2 players over the age of 18 and that every player is home grown.

Warrington took the lead early on and never looked back, Olympia were no match for the pace and speed of Donna Hankinson fledgling squad lead by the ever improving speedy winger Lauren Wilkinson who contributed 4 fast break goals in the first half.

Charlotte Robinson dictating the play in her strongest performance for several years also contributed 4 goals before the break with Ari Bekker for Olympia matching her goal for goal. The score at half time was Warrington 11 Olympia 8.

Warrington steadied themselves for the Olympia rally. Olympia changed their defensive formation choosing to mark out powerful shooter Beth Wilbraham. Warrington also lost their steadying hand Charlotte Robinson early in the second half due to a serious back injury. With their other play maker out injured Ellie Whitehead had to take centre stage outside the comfort zone of her usual Wing position.

Olympia pushed hard but Warrington showed their hunger and desire playing the entire second half with an under 18s team to come out on top and although they missed several easy opportunities in the second half as they felt the pressure there defensive performance pulled them through conceding only 8 goals in each half. Man of the Match was Line player Emily Maddison who’s defensive performance was heroic with 5 blocked shots and countless last ditch tackles and hits keeping Olympia’s big shooters at bay.

Coach Hankinson said: “I am delighted, these girls are probably the hardest working players in the league, they travel from far and wide to train together and although they are still relative babies in terms of their handball education they know they are at the start of a journey.

“We work hard on defence and that was what pleased me the most, attack wins matches but defence wins titles, and although we’re a long way of beating the more experienced teams we have them on our radar.”

Eagles Maintain Good Form

AFTER beating London GD the previous week, Ruislip Eagles maintained their great form when they battled back from a half-time deficit to overcome Olympia 30-24.

Olympia were the only team to beat the Eagles the previous year, so Ruislip were eager to defend top spot in the table.

They made a slow start and Olympia led throughout the first half. They extended their lead to four goals on a number of occasions, but Ruislip managed to strike back thanks to Nguelo and Laperdrix.

The end of the first half saw us closing the gap thanks to Messis who scored four goals in a row and also goalkeeper Bauer who saved many shots at critical moments.

The second half started with better teamwork as Ruislip managed to pull level with their opponents just three minutes after the beginning and eventually taking the lead thanks to Cros who went on to score five goals in the second half.

The Eagles started to play with fluent movements and nice attacking tactics, allowing them to take a five-goal lead with 10 minutes left on the clock. However, a few attacking mistakes and fast-breaks from the opponents saw our advance being reduced to two goals with five minutes left and a man down for two-minute penalty.

Olympia decided to change their defence in order to put more pressure on our attacking scheme but as we had many fresh substitutes they managed to score even more and the goal difference went back to six. With a goal at the buzzer from our goalkeeper Rinkevicius, the final score was 30 - 24.

Their victory means Ruislip Eagles have qualified for the play-offs, but with two games left against London GD and Oxford University, they will want to maintain their good form and give themselves a head-start in the play-offs.

* In other matches in the Southern Section, London GD beat Cambridge 40-29, while Oxford University beat Bath University 35-27.

English Teams Prepare for Europe

LONDON GD Handball Club get their European Challenge Cup campaign under way with a clash against English rivals Ruislip Eagles on Friday (Sept 30) at the Tal-Qroqq University Sports Hall in Malta.

The first of three games in three days, the opening clash for the team – formerly known as Great Dane - begins at 7.30pm (local time).

They take on Maltese outfit Aloysians ProMinent in their second match the following day at 6pm, while their final clash is on October 2 against Dublin International HC at 5pm.

"We are going to this year's Challenge Cup with a desire to win all our games and make British history by being the first English club to reach the next round of a European Cup Competition,” said London GD's coach Philippe Seray, confident about their chances.

“We have been training hard over the summer and the players are fully committed to the club, arranging their day-to-day work schedule to attend as many trainings and friendly games as possible. Our new players are integrating very well, and I am confident that we have a real chance of winning our group.”

Meanwhile, after their opening clash with London GD on Friday, Ruislip Eagles will take on Dublin International on Saturday at 3.30pm, and will then complete their campaign with a clash against Aloysians ProMinent at 2.30pm.

And in the women’s competition, Olympic HC from London will play Croatian side RK Zelina at 9pm (local time) on Friday in the opening match of their group, which is being held in Portugal at the Pavilhao Municipal de Oliveira do Bairro.

They will then take on Portugese team Alavarium at 5.30pm on Saturday, followed by a final match against Panetolikos of Greece on Sunday.

Good luck to all the English teams competing in Europe this weekend!

Thames Crowned London Cup Winners

THAMES Women won the pre-season London Cup competition after a thrilling series of matches at Leyton SCORE Centre in North London on Saturday.

This year’s competition was a women-only affair with several of the men’s teams preparing for their European campaign, but it was still a hotly-contested tournament.

The first game was between Thames and Olympia, who had several new signings, but Thames were undeterred and led by 2-3 goals almost throughout the match until Olympia realised they had to up their game, if they wanted to have a chance at winning the Cup.

With minutes to spare, they managed to level the score and just edged ahead to win 14-13.

Thames’ second game against London GD was a deciding clash their opponents had comfortably won against Olympia. With new signings in each team, the flow of the game was uncharacteristically slow and nervous and both teams failed to convert what were otherwise clear chances.

But in the end it was Thames who managed to control the match better with Nikoletta Papp scoring from the back court over London GD's defence and Maria Kourdoulos hitting the net from the wing three times.

For Thames, Live Kolstad Kvalsvik was top scorer for her team with five goals, followed by Maria Kourdoulos and Asta Slezeviciene scoring three each.

The fate of the Cup went to goal difference, and with Thames on +3 and London GD on +1, it was Thames who took the win for the first time since 2009.

Thanks must go to the referees and officials who helped make the event a success.

Results: Thames 13 Olympia 14, London GD 18 Olympia 13, Thames 13 London GD 9.

England's Finest Prepare for Finals

THE best handball teams from across England come to Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Saturday for a day of four EHA Cup finals.

Warrington Wolves take on the North East Manchester Hawks in the EHA Girls Cup final at 12noon, and that is followed by the Boys final at 1pm, featuring North East Manchester Hawks and Olympia Cannock.

Unbeaten all season in the league, Ruislip Eagles take on Olympia in the EHA Women’s Cup final at 2pm, followed by the Men’s final at 4pm which sees league champions Great Dane and runners-up Ruislip Eagles.

With the league title already in the bag, there has been little time for Great Dane to celebrate as they prepare for the EHA Cup final.

“We can’t rest yet,” said Great Dane captain Jordi Ferrer-Torras. “We’ll be ready and fighting for the final of the cup.”

Likewise, the captain of league runners-up and cup holders Ruislip, Marc Fayemi, was raring to go for the final despite conceding the league title.

“We’ve beaten Great Dane twice this season already and we’ll have to show them our quality in the cup final. We’ll be ready for them.”

It looks set to be a busy day for GB Team Manager Mel Chowns, who is also head coach for Ruislip Eagles Women and will be eager to see her domestic team complete the league and cup double, while also ensuring that Great Britain go through to the next stage of Euro 2012 for victory over Finland.

Olympia Women Beat Great Dane

OLYMPIA Women ensured they finish the group stages of the EHA Women’s Cup top of the table following a 23-19 victory over rivals Great Dane on Sunday.

The victory at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre ensures they will be in the semi finals on May 14/15, when they will play the runner-up from the Northern qualifying group, which has yet to be completed.

Despite the defeat, Great Dane still finished second in the group and will also play in the semi finals, and means the two southern teams could meet again in the final.

Nine goals from Linda Bourkab and seven from Heidi Torgnes helped Olympia to victory, while for Great Dane, both Scholz and Lohmeier scored seven times.

EHA Cup: Manchester Univ hold Olympia to Draw

WOMEN’S Development League leaders Manchester University battled to a thrilling 13-13 draw with National League outfit Olympia in the EHA Women’s Cup on Saturday.

The student side lost out to Great Dane in their opening clash of the Cup pool last month, but upped their game significantly and proved a good match for Olympia.

In other Women’s Cup action, Deva beat Cambridge 23-20 with Popa scoring nine goals for Deva, while Agi Foglein scored seven for Cambridge.

And league leaders Ruislip Eagles cruised past Thames 37-24 with Dani Sposi scoring 15 times.
Maria Kourdoulos scored nine for Thames, but it was not enough to avoid defeat.

Olympia Topple Leaders Salford

OLYMPIA threw the race for the English National League title wide open when they convincingly beat league leaders Salford 30-18 in the first play-off match at Greenbank Sports Academy in Liverpool.

The defeat was Salford’s first of the season, and cuts their lead at the top of the play-off table to just two points with Great Dane, Manchester and Ruislip all breathing down their neck.

An early clash of heads between Salford’s Jake Williams and Olympia goalkeeper Mohammed Elkedim led to a lengthy delay, with Williams knocked out for a number of minutes and left needing hospital treatment.

The stoppage left Salford clearly rattled, and they were 15-5 down at half time. They battled back after half time, but they could not reduce the deficit with seven goals from Thomas Schied underpinning the win for Olympia.

Later in the day, Manchester beat Ruislip Eagles 24-20 in a close match.

Manchester took an early lead, opening up the Ruislip defensive line and scoring from several six-metre shots. Ruislip desperately tried different formations to stem the flow but Manchester mixed up their attacking options and continued their free-scoring ways which helped them to a 14-10 lead at the break.

But with just eight players remaining, Manchester began to tire and Ruislip closed the gap to just one goal.
But strong defence and good fast breaks kept Manchester’s tally ticking over, and they held on for the win.

Finally, in the day’s other match Great Dane beat Nottingham 25-19.

The play-offs continue on March 13 with another set of matches at Moulton, Northampton, from 12-6pm.

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.

Olympia Shoot Down Rivals Great Dane

OLYMPIA Women boosted their title hopes when they recorded a 25-20 victory over rivals Great Dane in their latest National League clash at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London.

The fate of the match was close right down to the final couple of minutes, but Olympia maintained their composure and secured a victory which sees them go second in the table.

With several victories under their belts already over guest teams, it was Olympia’s first league win.

But they face another stiff test this Sunday when they take on leaders Ruislip Eagles who have won both their league matches so far. Also at Crystal Palace, Sunday’s match begins at 12noon.

Four goals from Ari Bekker helped Olympia to take a narrow 11-10 lead at half time, while Linda Bourkab scored three.

After the break Olympia found the net with increasing frequency, with Bekker adding another four to finish as the top scorer. Bourkab also doubled her goal tally to finish with six.

For Great Dane, Adela Jensouska scored five goals and Alexandra Garaloska and Delphine Moral both scored four, but it was not enough.

This Sunday’s Ruislip versus Olympia clash will see in-form Eagles player Telek - who has netted 16 goals in their two league games so far - line up opposite Bekker who scored eight on Sunday.

WANTED! Crowd for BBC English League Filming

BBC Sport will be filming this Sunday’s English League matches at Crystal Palace - and you’re invited to come along too!

The BBC cameras will be recording both the Women’s League clash between Great Dane and Olympia at 12noon, as well as the Men’s League Olympia v Great Dane match which follows at 2pm.

The project is a test transmission, with the BBC trialling new technologies with a view to live web streaming of future Great Britain matches.

Entry to the games is free, and the venue will be decked out to make it look as professional as possible.
Come along and make some noise!

English Men's League: Battling Bath Surprise Olympia

NEWLY-promoted Bath held Division One giants Olympia to a shock 23-23 draw in the National League on Sunday to announce their arrival in the top flight.

Despite facing a side who qualified for the European Challenge Cup last season, Bath were not over-awed by their opponents and were leading 12-11 at the break.

Six goals from Osle and five from Masiak helped Bath to a draw with Olympia, for whom Haddadou scored seven and Gug five. But it was not enough to avoid battling Bath taking a point.

Elsewhere in the South, Ruislip Eagles beat Cambridge 23-21 to make up for losing to rivals Olympia the previous week.

The Eagles started the game convincingly and led 11-8 at the break thanks to Stefan Bauer in goal.

In the second half Cambridge’s Zsolt Majoros tried hard to reduce the gap and almost turn the match in the last few minutes as Ruislip had to deal with two consecutive suspensions. However they ran out of time.

* In the North, an experienced Salford team beat Liverpool Speke Garston 30-10 with GB Under-21s Jake Williams scoring 12.

Nottingham University inflicted a first defeat of the season on Liverpool Wolves, running out 23-16 winners.
Leading 10-8 at half time, Nottingham continued to hold the Wolves at bay despite some shaky defending. Morad Arab and Ruben Wolff scored six each, and Guillaume Bodet added four.

Manchester beat city rivals Manchester University 30-25, after a spell during the second half where the University side were left with just the goalkeeper and one outfield player on court.

Girost scored ten for Manchester, Karas seven and Hammache four.

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.

Tight at the Top After Thrilling Play-Off Matches

After beating leaders and reigning champions Great Dane in the Cup the previous week, Olympia continued their good form with a 33-30 victory over Manchester.

Olympia are now level on points with Manchester but ahead on goal difference and stand a very good chance of securing a European spot in the final two games of the season.

Ten goals from Lindberg underpinned their victory, while Haddadou scored eight for Olympia. Lasek scored ten for Manchester and Girost seven, but it was not enough for victory.

Cambridge overtook Manchester after beating a battling Salford side 36-27.

Nine goals from Fernandez helped Cambridge control the match, while for Salford Garthman, Tauraoui and Woodall all scored five.

Great Dane cruised to a 33-17 win over bottom of the play-off table Nottingham University, with all but four of their players getting on the scoresheet. Remus Bugariu scored eight and Philip Altong five for Great Dane, while Nottingham’s best was Bodet with six.

The play-offs resume in two weeks time on May 9 at Moulton in Northampton, where the match of the day looks set to be the clash between Cambridge and Manchester.

Olympia will be aiming to maintain third spot in the league with a win over Nottingham, while Great Dane play Salford.

Race for European Places Reaches Crucial Stage

THIS Sunday’s matches at the Greenbank Academy in Liverpool could prove to be some of the most important of the season as the National League play-offs reach a crucial stage.

Manchester’s victory over leaders Great Dane a fortnight ago has thrown the play-offs wide open, with five of the six teams in the end of season competition still battling for a top three finish and entry into European competition.

After beating Great Dane in the Cup last Saturday, Olympia will be aiming to take that form into their clash with Manchester, knowing that a victory could well see them move up from fourth to second.

Currently third in the table, Cambridge play Salford and will also be bidding to preserve their spot in the top trio. Defeat for Salford will spell the end of their play-off hopes.

And leaders Great Dane will be looking to get back to winning ways and salvage the League title when they play bottom of the league Nottingham.

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.

Olympia March on as Champions Falter

OLYMPIA men’s team inflicted a narrow 26-24 extra time defeat on reigning Cup and League champions Great Dane as they reached the semi finals of the EHA Cup on Saturday.

The victory was the highlight of a great weekend for Olympia, whose women’s team also reached the semi finals of the Cup with a win over Manchester University.

The men’s team started on the Saturday with the tough news that their coach was stranded in Paris and influential line player Remek Bobrowski was unavailable. And they endured a nervous wait before their only available goalkeeper arrived for the match.

Great Dane made a strong start and scored several goals without reply before Aillaud settled Olympia’s nerves, and they battled back into the game to 5-3. The teams then followed each other closely until a half-time score of 10-8 in favour of Great Dane.

Following the restart however, Olympia scored a series of quick goals and Great Dane looked lost against a very aggressive 3-2-1 Olympia defence.

They responded by taking out the line player and playing with four back players instead, but could not find many ways through, and Olympia ran to a 13-11 lead. With a final score of 21-21 the game was taken into extra time.

During extra time both teams’ defensive skills were on display, and Great Dane were restricted to scoring only three times during the ten minutes, while Olympia scored five times.

Olympia’s goal keeper led the line with a man of the match appearance, but the crucial moment came just before the end of the game, when Olympia were one goal up and Great Dane broke for a counter attack.

Superb defending from Haddadou (pictured) saw him catch up and stealing the ball away, to enable Olympia to score the final goal of the match and book their place in the semi finals on May 15-16.

In other Men’s EHA Cup results, Manchester were made to battle before securing a 30-25 victory over surprise round one winners Bristol, and book their place in the semi finals against Olympia.
And the second semi final will be between Salford and Ruislip Eagles.

The determined Eagles overcame a young and promising Deva team in London 34-11, with Hugo Mazel top-scoring with nine for Ruislip, while Steven Jameson was Deva’s best with six.

In the Men’s EHA Plate, Liverpool beat City rivals Liverpool Speke Garston 24-20 to book their place in the semi finals against Cambridge.

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.