Glasgow battle back against Edinburgh

GLASGOW battled back from a half time deficit to beat Scottish League title rivals Edinburgh by one point in a dramatic clash on Sunday.

Edinburgh led 14-17 at the break after a strong first period, but Glasgow dug deep and battled back to stay within one point of league leaders Tryst, who didn’t play.

Bottom of the league Dundee also battled back from a half time deficit to win 29-24 against EK82 – their first league victory of the season.

The Scottish League programme continues this Sunday when Glasgow and Tryst will play each other, and Edinburgh take on Dundee.

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.

Scottish League: Round-up

DUNDEE continue to improve as they gave Glasgow a hard match at Blackburn before the more experienced Glasgow team ran out 27-25 winners in their latest Scottish League clash.

This was the second time the teams have played each other and the scoreline was completely different to their first encounter; 44-20 for Glasgow.

Dundee worked hard in defence from the very first minute and managed to keep Glasgow’s attacking force quiet for few minutes. Dundee’s attacking and defensive efforts were rewarded when they took the lead after 10 minutes eventually opening a five-goal difference for most of the first half finishing the interval on top 15-11.

The experienced Glasgow players though were determined to win and scored few important goals to make the comeback in the second half. Glasgow defence was impressive in the second half and this gave them the chance to score few easy goals from fast breaks.

Glasgow were leading by four goals by the middle of the second half but Dundee was determined to fight for their first win of the season so they kept coming back even reduction the goal margin to 1 goal. Glasgow scored the last goal of the game with a minute to go and sealed their victory; final score 27-25. 

Danos Sagias scored eight for Glasgow and Clement Morisse added six. For Dundee, Felix Breyer scored seven and Peter Meadley five, but it was not enough to stop Glasgow’s 100% record in the league.

* An impressive defensive performance from EK82 was not enough to stop them slipping to a 26-24 defeat in the final match of the day against the current champions Tryst.

Similarly to the first game, EK82 overpowered Tryst in the first part of the first half leading the score 11-4 after 15 minutes. Tryst improved both their defence and attack after a much needed time out and with the introduction of their manager/player Alan Govan reduced the goal difference to three goals by the end of the half 11-14.

Tryst started the second half very strongly and improved their scoring percentage while their goalkeeper made scoring difficult for EK. After few minutes into the second half Tryst took the lead and never looked back. EK tried hard to stay in the game but they run out of steam due to the lack of substitutions.

Tryst took advantage of their experienced squad and managed to keep on top throughout the game, ending up winning by 24 goals 26-24.

James Jule and Johnnie McAleer scored six goals for Tryst, while for EK82 Lazslo Csoma scored six, Colin Reid and Krizstian Kormos scored five goals each.

Scotland Battle well in Europe

A YOUNG Scotland team played superbly in the European Challenge Trophy, finishing third in their group and securing a win over Malta.

They got off to a tough start in their group, playing eventual group winners Moldova in their opening match. Moldova put Scotland under pressure right from the start of the match and a combination of aggressive defending and high quality fast-breaking saw Moldova lead by 14 goals at half time.

The Scotland boys continued to fight through the second half with Alex Wylie scoring 10 goals being the upside for Scotland, but eventually went down 47-20 to the more experienced and physically stronger side.

In their second match they played an Azerbaijan side who had struggled to find their rhythm in their first match. However they came out ready for the second match and proved that the first match had been an off day.

The Scotland team play better in defence and with more fluency in attack but were powerless to prevent a 16-goal loss.

On the final day the Scotland team really had to lift their spirits with a chance to still finish third in the group by beating Malta, the host nation.

They knew it would be difficult with Malta playing in front of a home crowd who would get behind them and drive them on. Scotland had a boost for the match with the news that Alex Girvan would be fit to play having overcome the groin injury that kept him out the first two matches.

Scotland started the match very well and gave the Maltese a real surprise. They went in seven goals up at half time with the Maltese looking shell-shocked and the crowd starting to lose the spirit it had before the match.

Malta came out ready to fight in the second half playing higher pressure defence but this made little difference pressing out two of the Scotland back players.

However this left too much space for the Scotland team who proved too fast for their opponents and eventually won the match by five goals and Alex Girvan Top scoring with 14.

Andrew Mackellar also made it into the all star team after his nine goals against Azerbaijan and a great tournament in defence.

After the match coach Gary McCafferty said: “I am immensely proud of all the players, after two hard matches they came out fighting and have come away with a win.

“We have a young squad with an average age of just 19, so to come here and manage to stay motivated and achieve our target after 2 tough defeats is a great credit to the players and bodes really well for the future.”

Scottish League: Round-up

GLASGOW scraped past Edinburgh 25-21 after a close and thrilling match, while EK82 managed their first win of the season, beating newcomers Dundee 33-27 at Ravenscraig Sports Centre in Motherwell on Sunday.

This was the first time SHA handball games were played on a professional EHF Gerflor, so all of the players were exited to show their skills on the ‘ultimate handball court’.

Both Glasgow and Edinburgh defended hard from the very first minute of the game. Glasgow scored first and never lost the lead throughout the game although Edinburgh was never behind by more than 3 goals.

Glasgow were only 14-13 ahead at half time, and they continued to have a real fight on their hands against Edinburgh in the second half.

Edinburgh tried hard to take the lead in the second half and although they were just 2 goals down (22-20) with 3 minutes to go they run out of steam due to the lack of substitutions.

Glasgow took advantage of their 14 players squad and managed to defend and attack consistently throughout the game, ending up winning by 4 goals 25-21.

Danos Sagias scored nine and Adria Espinas six goals for Glasgow.

For Edinburgh, Vincent Martinez scored nine and Mounir Iddir five goals, but it was not enough to stop Glasgow.

In the second game of the day a more experienced EK82 team took a small lead early on and never looked back, beating newcomers Dundee by six goals - 33-27.

Glasgow Win After Scare

GLASGOW ran out 26-19 winners over East Kilbride in their latest Scottish League match on Saturday, but not before they were given a tough time by their rivals.

Both teams started strong in defence so the score after 10 minutes was only 1-1. Glasgow extended their lead after the first 15 minutes to three goals and it stayed that way till the end of the half.

In the second half Glasgow extended their lead a bit more but the EK82 goalkeeper was in fine form and pulled off a lot of saves to keep his side very close until the end of the game.

Top scorers: Glasgow - Danos Sagias 7, Sebastian Nouveau 6 goals & EK82 - Andy

Wallace 6, Kiim Dorins 4.

In the day’s other match, Tryst beat Edinburgh 26-18.

Tryst defended well in the first half to keep Edinburgh’s main threat (Mounir Iddir and Damien Roux) to a minimum.

Line player Bruce Hunter scored a few goals on the fast break and the line for Tryst which helped give Tryst a decent half time lead.

Mounir, Damien and Blair Strachan were all big goal threats for Edinburgh in the second half, but Kenny McManus played well in goal for Tryst to help fend off an Edinburgh comeback.

For more details on the 2011-12 Scottish League season please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Handball_Season_2011/12

Sign up NOW for EK82 Tournament!

HANDBALL fans in Scotland need to put September 3-4 in their diaries, as that is when East Kilbride 82 Handball Club are staging their tournament.

With categories for senior men, senior women, under-14 boys and girls as well as under-12 mixed, the weekend event is sure to be a big hit, with a party for all teams and coaches on the Saturday evening.

The venue is the Alistair McCoist Sports Complex in East Kilbride, and the entry fee of £35 is due by August 9.

Cheques are the preferred method of payment and should be made payable to “East Kilbride 82 Senior Handball Club” and sent to Andy Wallace, East Kilbride 82 Handball Club, 8 Thistle Place, East Kilbride, G74 4RH.

For further information please contact Andy Wallace at andy@ek82handball.co.uk or on 07816 419671.

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.

Glasgow On Top

SCOTTISH League leaders Glasgow were made to battle hard by rivals Liberton before securing a 26-20 victory at Blackburn Community Centre in West Lothian.

Both teams started well in defence and the game was tight in the opening minutes. Glasgow opened Liberton’s defence with a lot of fast breaks at the end of the first half, leading by four.

Glasgow started the second half with a same pace as they finished the first half increasing their lead to about 10 goals, but Liberton’s determinations kept them in the game till the end and Liberton secured a well deserved losing bonus point.

Elsewhere, Tryst secured their fifth league win in six games when they beat EK82 49-23, while Gracemount overwhelmed Dumfries 67-16.

Glasgow Remain Unbeaten

GLASGOW came out on top in the derby clash with Gracemount, winning 34-27 to give their Scottish League title hopes a boost.

The win maintained Glasgow’s 100 per cent record, and left last year’s undefeated champions Gracemount with some work to do if they are to retain their title.

Michael Groh top-scorer for Glasgow with 13 goals, while Danos Sagias added eight. For Gracemount Mounir Idir added 10 and Vincent Martinez seven, but it was not enough.

Elsewhere in the league, Tryst kept up the pressure with a 48-26 victory over Liberton to keep their 100 per cent record intact.

Tryst had to fight hard throughout the first half and were only ahead 19-14 at the break, before taking advantage of their quick wingers scoring plenty of goals from fast breaks.

James Yule scored 13 for Tryst, while Darren Fisher and Chris McManus both added seven.

Finally, East Kilbride recorded their first win of the season with a solid 40-17 win over newcomers Dumfries, with Kris Szulc scoring 14.

Scottish Schoolkids in Handball Action

SCHOOLS handball is taking off across the country, and this week saw two major events in Scotland.

The inaugural Secondary Schools Championships was staged at Ravenscraig Sports Centre in Motherwell, and saw a good mix of newcomers to the sport mixing it well with some schools with links to established handball clubs.

Duncanrig School in East Kilbride won both the boys and girls S1-2 categories, while Belmont School from Ayr were top in the S3-4 Boys event.

Largs won the S3-4 Girls and S5-6 Girls, while another East Kilbride school, Calderglen, came out on top in the S5-6 boys category.

“There were some very close matches throughout the day despite some of the players only recently taking up handball against some schools who have associations with local handball clubs,” said Stevie Neilson, chairman of the Scottish Handball Association.

And then later in the week there were the first matches in the Scottish Junior Cup play-offs.

East Kilbride again proved strong and came out on top in the under-12s and under-10s categories, while Livingston girls beat their East Kilbride rivals 8-5 in the deciding match of the under-14s group.

Finally, new team Ayr won all of their matches in their group, finishing with a convincing 7-2 win over Livingston.

The competition continues in February with the next round of matches.

When all games are complete, the top two teams in each group will play for the Scottish Cup on May 21 2010.

Hosts Scotland Win Four Nations Tournament

AN experienced Scottish side came out on top after a thrilling Four Nations Tournament saw them play host to England, Ireland and a Scottish Select team at Inverclyde last weekend.

The hosts faced some stiff opposition, but the experience gained by several members of the Scottish team - who are former GB players who trained out in Denmark - gave them the edge.

Scotland began with a 26-23 victory over the Scottish Select side, and it proved to be a close match with many of the players knowing each other from Scottish League encounters.

Allan Stokes scored six and Brian Bartlett five for Scotland, while for the Select team Kris Szulc scored seven and Jens Frederikson added six.

Also on Friday, Ireland beat a young England side 37-31. Trailing 18-11 at the break, England came out strongly for the second half and reduced the deficit to two goals, before the Irish hit back to win by six.

The top scorer for Ireland were Hichem Sefroun, while for England Stuart Latchford scored six and Aden Woodall five.

Saturday opened with England edging a close match with the Scottish Select team.

Level at 13-13 at half time, the match looked to be swinging the way of the Scots with England receiving a two-minute suspension with just four minutes still on the clock. But they failed to capitalise, and England held out to win by two goals.

Aden Woodall was top scorer for England with seven goals, while for the Select Jens Frederickson added eight and Kris Szulc five.

What turned out to be the match of the Tournament came next, and Scotland clinched a decisive 32-18 win over Ireland.

Ireland were unable to cope with the pressure defence that the Scotland team applied and were continually frustrated.

Leading 15-6 at the break, Scotland continued to keep up their advantage in the second half and every time Ireland reduced the deficit by a few goals Scotland would again take their lead back.

Top scorers for Scotland were Gary McCafferty with 10 and Allan Stokes with six, while Alan O’Brien scored six for Ireland.

Narrowly ahead by just one goal at half time, Ireland went on to beat the Scottish Select team 34-25 in their final clash on Sunday, but Oisin O’Brannagain scoring 11 goals and Jens Federickson seven.

Scotland took on England in the final match of the Tournament, with both sides still in with a chance of overall victory.

Early in the match the teams were close but then the pressure defence from Scotland started to take its toll on England and their scoring rate dropped and the Scots were 18-12 ahead at half time.

The experience of Scotland began to tell in the second half, but the younger England team still played very well, although they were certainly missing Stuart Latchford who was unable to play due to an injury in the previous match.

The Scottish team kept up a high intensity throughout the match and the team spirit throughout the weekend really contributed to their success.

Liberton Battle to Bonus Point

GLASGOW were made to work hard by Liberton in the closest clash of the weekend in the Scottish League, which ended 36-26.

Played at the newly-built Ravenscraig Sports Centre in Motherwell, the match saw Liberton take a bonus point under the new scoring system for losing by ten or less.

Tryst had a slightly easier time of it against East Kilbride, winning 32-14 after dominating, with their fast breaks punishing an East Kilbride side who were missing some key players.

And Gracemount Edinburgh marched on with a 50-14 demolition of league newcomers Dumfries.

With 15 goals from Jens Frederiksen leading the way, Gracemount capitalised on mistakes by Dumfries, who nevertheless are rapidly improving.

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.

Scottish League Ready for Action

THE Scottish Men’s League starts this Sunday, with a new scoring system in place which is designed to make the matches more exciting.

With three points for a win and two for a draw, clubs can also secure a losing bonus point if they lose by ten or less, ensuring there is always something to play for in more games.

Last year’s league champions Gracemount begin their 2010-11 fixtures with a clash against Liberton at Blackburn Community Centre in West Lothian, while other match taking place on Sunday afternoon include Glasgow against East Kilbride, and Tryst versus Dumfries.

Prior to the start of the men’s programme in the afternoon, the Scottish Women’s League continues in the morning at the same venue, with Glasgow playing Tryst and East Kilbride taking on Edinburgh, starting at 10.15am.

Euro Talks for Scottish Handball

THE development of handball in Scotland continued last week when top officials from the European Handball Federation visited Edinburgh.

EHF President Tor Lian, Vice-President Jean Brihault, Secretary General Michael Wiederer and Development and Education Official Helmut Hoeritsch held talks with Scottish Handball Chairman Stephen Neilson, SportScotland Chief Executive Stewart Harris and SportScotland Partnership Manager Megan Griffiths.

Among other issues on the agenda was possible joint development projects between the EHF and Scottish Handball.

*In other Scottish news, the Scottish Handball Association has opened a new office at the Inverclyde National Sports Centre, which is being staffed part-time by administrator Anne McLaughlin.

The office number is 01475 687820, and Anne works from 1-5pm on Wednesdays and all day Thursday and Friday.

Scottish Referees Course

IF you are a budding handball referee and live in Scotland, then there is a course for you!

The Scottish Handball Association is staging a training course on September 18-19, at a venue to be confirmed.

Running from 9am-5pm each day, the course will cost £35 per person, and is open to people aged 16 or over on the day of the course.

For more details, please contact fred_wallaceuk@yahoo.com

EK82: A Scottish Success Story

EK82 Handball Club in East Kilbride has just enjoyed one of their most successful years ever for youth development, with three of their young teams winning their respective Scottish Cup finals last month.

The Under-11s overcame Kirkliston in their final. They scored early through a well-worked move between James Smith and Cameron Fyffe. Roan Perrie added a second with some great individual play, closely followed by a great goal from the wing by Andrew Hughes.

Kirkliston hit back and led for the majority of the second half, but with some ingenious play from Fyffe and Lees, EK drew level with two minutes left. This season’s Player of the Year Greg Hughes nudged EK in front, and young Keir Coffield came off the bench to score twice and help secure a 13-10 win.

The Under-14 girls also battled Kirkliston in their final. They quickly took the lead through Sarah Clelland and Amy Stuart, and extended their lead with goals from Junior Girls Player of the Year Aimee Taylor & Robyn Convey.

The second half began as the first left off with Sarah Clelland grabbing a quick brace, while Amy Stuart and Aimee Taylor added to their tallies. Goalkeeper Amy Hiddleston was in fine form, making outstanding saves to maintain the EK lead.

Emma Taylor put in a great display on the right wing, feeding sister Aimee for her hat-trick and supplying Sarah Clelland with some inch perfect passes to put the game beyond Kirkliston and win 22-14.

The Under-14 Boys had a difficult match against the reigning East of Scotland Champions Livingston, in a repeat of last season’s final.

EK took the lead through a well executed cross move that opened up the Livingston defence for Benji Muir to score. Chris Mowat added a second before Livingston drew level at 7-7 at half time.

Livingston took the lead early on, leaving EK to chase the game for much of the second half. Brothers Jack and Benn MacQuire linked up well to force gaps in the opposition defence that allowed Chris Mowat through to score his third with Perries, Robin and Roan, teaming up to allow Robin to grab his third of the match, and Chris Mowat grabbed the winner with a minute left.

In-Form Glasgow March into Last Four of Scottish Cup

Glasgow maintained their late season form with a convincing 59-21 victory over East Kilbride in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup, and now go forward to the semi finals where they face Tryst.

Following their recent draw with the league Champions Gracemount, Glasgow proved too strong for a young East Kilbride side.

The early part of the match Glasgow dominated but East Kilbride had a much better second half after only scoring eight goals in the first half.

The scoring was led by veteran player Mick Lavery with seven goals with another good performance from Colin Reid with four goals who is still only 15 years old.

The scoring for Glasgow was led by Seb Klotz with 15 goals. The season is now over for East Kilbride but they have shown great improvement throughout the year and with a young squad can look forward to making more impression next season.

Tryst reached the semi finals after beating a weakened Liberton side 53-14.
Liberton had several of their players stuck abroad and had lost one of their key student players, but they showed heart throughout the match and never gave up.

They had a young team made up of some up-and-coming Scottish youngsters. It was one of these - Blair Strachan who led the way with five goals in the match and is really starting to show his potential.

The Tryst team were a mix of youth and experience with long-serving player James Yule leading their scoring with 10 goals followed closely by another of the old guard Chris McManus with nine goals making a rare appearance for this match.

His strength on the line proved very difficult for the Liberton team throughout the match. Young player Darren Fisher showed how much he has improved this season with some clinical finishing on the wing with six goals.

Glasgow University were making an appearance in the Scottish Cup after an absence from Scottish Handball competition since the 1980s, but lost out 37-15 to league champions Gracemount.

The match was very close in the initial stages with Glasgow only trailing 7-4. But the experience of the champions told in the end.

Gracemount Crowned Scottish Champions

GRACEMOUNT secured their first Scottish League title last weekend when they battled to a thrilling 32-32 draw with Glasgow on Saturday.

Having lost just one of their 11 games so far, Gracemount are three points clear of Cumbernauld and can’t be caught with just one match remaining.

After a one minute silence was held for the President of Poland and the 130 people that died last weekend, both teams started well and nothing could separate them in the first part of the first half. However, Glasgow led 17-16 at the break.

The second half was also tight and although Glasgow never lost the lead, Gracemount equalised several times.

Glasgow stayed on top until 15 seconds before the final whistle, when Gracemount’s right back scored from nine metres to level the score at 32-32.

Glasgow shot from nine metres themselves with two seconds to go, but the effort was blocked, the whistle sounded the celebrations began.

Danos Sagias netted 10 goals for Glasgow, Allan Stokes scored seven for Gracemount.

In the day’s other match, Liberton ended their season on a high, beating Ayr by 10 goals.

They started the game strongly and they had a comfortable lead of four or five goals from the start. The win caps their best season so far, finishing with five victories.

With 11 goals, Kriss Szulc was top-scorer for Ayr, while Zeller Johannes netted seven for Liberton.