Durham University won Sunday’s first round of the North East Handball League’s second season. Played at Sunderland College’s Bede Campus, this first round of matches featured just the men’s teams of Newcastle Vikings, Durham University and Sunderland, with the women’s teams and York Hunters set to join the fray for the second round in the new year.
Durham opened with an 8-5 win over Sunderland, before beating Newcastle 12-7. Sunderland then gained their only win of the day in defeating an experimental Newcastle side 10-5, the Vikings taking the opportunity to give several new and less regular players a chance to play more game time.
The second batch of matches saw Durham gain 8-6 and 14-12 victories over Newcastle and Sunderland respectively to finish the day unbeaten, while the final match between Sunderland and Newcastle ended in a 12-12 draw.
The second round of the North East league will take place on Saturday 14 January at Newcastle Vikings’ home venue, Temple Park Leisure Centre in South Shields.