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.

National League: Wolves Begin to Bite

NATIONAL League newcomers Liverpool Wolves maintained their strong start to the season with a 33-19 victory over fellow new boys Deva at Birchwood Sports Centre on Sunday.

Both teams were quick out of the blocks to put pressure on each other, and early in the match Deva forced a string of spectacular saves from Liverpool’s in-form goalkeeper Yetis Calis.

The first stages of the match saw the two teams locked in an end-to-end battle, with perhaps the pace forcing too many careless turnovers and missed opportunities from both sides.

However, it wasn’t long before Liverpool Wolves found their form and eased into an early lead. Deva’s defence was highly physical but the Wolves were strong on the ball and managed to make the most of their opportunities in the constant six metre line tussles.

In other action, Olympia beat Ruislip Eagles 23-21 in the southern section of the league with both goalkeepers Rinkevicius and Zamani in good form.

* Wolves mascot Wolfie entertained the crowd with a penalty challenge at half time, which was won by 11- year-old George Roberts who was presented with a mini handball for his efforts.

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.

Olympic Mascot Wenlock Tries Handball

LONDON 2012 Olympic mascot Wenlock got a taste of handball action this week after a poll on his website pitted the world’s greatest sport against beach volleyball.

Almost 10,000 votes were recorded for handball in the poll on www.mylondon2012.com/mascots, which resulted in the mascot trying handball for himself, below!

Eagles Claim First Title

RUISLIP Eagles claimed their first silverware of the season when they were crowned London Cup champions at Leyton SCORE Centre in the capital on Sunday.

The Eagles took on Olympia and Thames in the Cup, which acted as good preparation for the start of the National League fixtures.

They began confidently, and led almost all the way to a 16-10 victory over Olympia, while Thames were also beaten with some ease, Ruislip winning 20-3 after displaying excellent technique in both attack and defence.

Thames picked themselves up well for their final match against Olympia, and matched their rivals for much of the game. But Olympia held their nerve and pulled away from their rivals in the closing minutes to secure an 18-11 victory.

Handball Hits Universities

A MEETING is being staged later this month aimed at organising a Universities Handball Tournament in December.

The meeting, at Nottingham university Sports Centre on October 23, will gauge whether there is enough interest in staging a Student Beginners Tournament on December 4.

If there is enough interest, the event could lead to a British Universities Championship in February, with the eventual winners going on to represent Great Britain Universities at the European Championships in Rijeka, Croatia, from July 17-24 2010.

Anyone wanting to attend the meeting, which starts at 2pm on October 23, is asked to email Admin@britishuniversitieshandball.com for more details.

Champions League Action on Eurosport

WOMEN’S EHF Champions League action is being screened live on British Eurosport this weekend, with British Handball’s own Paul Bray providing the commentary.

The group stages clash between Itxako Reyna de Navarra of Spain and German outfit HC Leipzig will be screened at 6pm, while the following day the Men’s group stage clash between German high-flyers THW Kiel and Poland’s Vive Targi Kielce will be on at 8pm.

Those matches are just two of a regular list of matches being shown on the channel throughout the Autumn, with Bray providing authoritative English commentary.

A dual British and French citizen who has played and coached the game to international level, Bray has been commentating for Eurosport since 1989, covering more than 800 matches including nine World Championships, seven European Championships and five Olympic Games as well as numerous other matches.

Sat, Oct 9 (18:00 GMT)
Women’s Champions League, group stages
Itxako Reyna de Navarra (ESP) v HC Leipzig (GER)

Sun, Oct 10 (20:00 GMT)
Men’s Champions League, group stages
THW Kiel (GER) v Vive Targi Kielce (POL)

Sun, Oct 17 (15:00 GMT)
Women’s Champions League, group stages
Gyori Audi ETO (HUN) v Podravka Vegeta (CRO)

Sun, Oct 17 (19:45 GMT)
Men’s Champions League, group stages
Vive Targi Kielce (POL) v Rhein-Neckar-Löwen (GER)

Sat, Oct 23 (14:00 GMT)
Women’s Champions League, group stages
HC Leipzig (GER) v Hypo Niederösterreich (AUT)

* Schedule is subject to change, check listings beforehand