Newcastle Vikings’ men beat local rivals Sunderland 35-27 in a pulsating England Handball North Regional Development League match at Sunderland College on Sunday afternoon, to make it a derby double following their 16-13 home win at the start of the season.
Centre Peter Schichtel set the ball rolling in the first minute, soon followed by goals from half David Topacho and wingers Matthew Lamb and Adam Mobberley before Schichtel scored his second. Great Britain Under-21 winger Niall Flanagan, returning for his first Vikings appearance of the season after international duty, came on to grab a quick-fire hat-trick, soon adding his fourth on a fast break after braces from Lamb and Topacho. Kole Viejo-Cabellero scored got his name on the scoresheet from the wing, before Mohammed Ghuloum struck twice from the back court either side of further goals from Mobberley on the line and Lamb, as Newcastle took an 18-13 advantage into the half-time break, ex-Viking Wiktor Laczny having scored nine of the home team’s goals.
Topacho, Lamb and Schichtel combined to extend Newcastle’s lead early in the second half, with Stephan Stricker’s back-court hat-trick split only by a cheeky throw-in goal past the keeper from fellow half Jonathan Bastit. Charis Perros and Laczny tried their best to claw Sunderland back into the game, scoring six and five goals apiece from the back court. However, their tiring defence struggled to contain the Vikings’ attacking flow as wingers Flanagan, Viejo-Cabellero, Lamb and Mobberley all took advantage on the break, half-players Bastit and Topacho also adding further doubles to give Newcastle a resounding 35-27 away victory.
Sunderland: Gracjan Joppek (GK), Charis Perros (7 goals), Wiktor Laczny (14), Piotr Niedbal, Dimitrios Pappas (1), Jack Woods (3), Dawid Chorazki (1), Tomasz Lewandowski (1).
Newcastle Vikings: Daniel Walsh (GK), Mark Harrison (GK), Florencio ‘Kole’ Viejo-Cabellero (2 goals), Peter Schictel (4), Craig Swanson, Matthew Lamb (6), Mohammed Ghuloum (2), Adam Mobberley (3), Niall Flanagan (5), Jonathan Bastit (3), Stephan Stricker (3), David Topacho (7).