Issue 107February 10

2010

Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball AssociationFor more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com

Make or Break TimeFor Play-Off HopesEnglish League Teams Battle to Extend Season with Top Three Finish

IT IS make or break time for the play-off hopes of many teams in the Men’sEnglish League this weekend, with key matches set to take place in boththe North and South sections.

With three teams fromeach section going forwardto the end-of-seasoncompetition, the battle for atop three finish couldbecome clearer after thisSunday’s games. In the Northern Section,second-placed Liverpoolplay fourth-placed Salford,who will be desperate forvictory to overtakeNottingham University andextend their season into theplay-offs. But Nottingham will beaiming to hang on to that

spot by beating LiverpoolSpeke Garston on Saturday,who beat ManchesterUniversity last weekend andmust win all their remaininggames to have any chanceof reaching the play-offs. In other Northern Sectionaction on Sunday,Manchester University willbe looking to bounce backfrom their narrow 29-28defeat to Speke Garstonwith victory over bottom ofthe table Wirral. In the Southern Sectionthis weekend, leaders Great

Dane take onsecond-placedCambridge,knowing thatvictory willensure they goforward to theplay-offs asSouthernchampions.But withresults from the regularseason being carriedforward to the play-offsCambridge will be in nomood to contemplatedefeat.

And finally, the Olympia vThames match scheduled totake place on Sunday hasbeen switched to Saturdayat Leyton, London.

This week’s pictures from Liverpool Speke Garston vManchester University are by Paul Jacobson.

THIS Friday is the deadline forentries to the popular Under-15 National Schools Cup,which is due to take place inMay and June this year. The event proved popularlast year with 28 schools

entering, and even more areexpected in 2010. The Competition Organiser,Nik Popovic said: “Last yearwas the successful re-launchof this National competition,which also acts as initialTalent Identification forCounty and eventually,England youth teams. Weexpect a significant increasethis year.” Regional qualifyingtournaments will take placeon May 15, with the nationalfinals on June 19. For more details please go towww.EnglandHandball.com

Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball AssociationFor more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com

Issue 107February 10

2010

Men’s English Lge (North) P W D L F A Diff Pts

Manchester 11 10 0 1 344 227 117 20

Liverpool 10 6 1 3 262 236 26 13

Nottingham University 10 5 2 4 248 246 2 12

Salford 8 5 0 3 230 206 24 10

Liverpool Speke Garston 10 4 0 6 251 251 0 8

Manchester University 10 2 0 8 193 279 -86 4

Wirral 9 0 1 8 175 258 -83 1

Results, February 6 2010

Results, February 7 2010

Fixtures, February 14 2010

Men’s Scottish League: Glasgow 35 Liberton 29,Tryst 53 EK82 10, Ayr 29 Gracemount 57.

Men’s Scottish League P W D L F A Diff Pts

Gracemount 8 8 0 0 358 185 173 16

Cumbernauld 7 6 0 1 220 162 58 12

Glasgow 8 6 0 2 264 220 44 12

Tryst 77 7 3 0 4 194 145 49 6

Liberton 8 3 0 5 189 223 -34 6

Ayr 8 1 0 7 163 257 -94 2

EK 82 8 0 0 8 176 332 -156 0

Men’s English Lge (North): Liverpool Speke Garston29 Manchester Univ 28.

Men’s English Lge (South): Cambridge v Great Dane.

High-Scoring Matchesin Scottish League

Glasgow Men’s Handball Team, 2009-10.

GRACEMOUNT notched uptheir eighth straight leaguevictory to maintain thesuperb form which has seenthem lead the table by fourclear points. They overcame a goodchallenge from Ayr 57-29 togive their goals difference aboost, with Mounir Iddir ingood form scoring 11 goals,while Allan Stokes addedanother ten.

Gracemount punished Ayrwith some fast breaks in thefirst half as Ayr took their timein settling in their defence.While they did manage totighten up, it was never goingto be enough to stop aformidable Gracemount attackwhich caused problemsthroughout. In other action in the ScottishLeague, Tryst also secured ahigh-scoring victory, beatingEK82 53-10.

Their experienceproved too much for ayoung EK side, althoughthey never stoppedbattling and supportedeach other well. Gary McCaffertyscored a massive 23goals for Tryst - thehighest tally in theleague so far thisseason - while lineplayer MarkMcLaughlan causedproblems throughoutand netted 11 goals. In their clash onSaturday Glasgowwere made to workhard by Liberton for their 35-29victory. Liberton were ahead 14-15 atthe break with their goalkeeperKacper Rogala in great form,but Glasgow fought backstrongly to win the match. Liberton led by four goalsearly in the match as Glasgowstruggled to find their form,but once they did theiraccuracy improved and they

scored 21 goals in the secondhalf, while their goalkeeperAndy Burns proved strong,thwarting Liberton’s attacks. Danos Sagias scored eighttimes for Glasgow, and BoraSieng added six, while eight oftheir ten court players scoredmore than two goals. Vincent Martinez scored fivefor Liberton.

Men’s English Lge (South): Thames v Olympia.

Fixtures, February 13 2010

Men’s English Lge (North): Nottingham Univ vLiverpool Speke Garston.

Men’s English Lge (North): Manchester Univ vWirral, Liverpool v Salford.