England Handball made the draws for the 2014/15 EHA National and League Cup knock-out competitions earlier this week. Newcastle Vikings opted to enter this season’s League Cup, along with nine other men’s teams and just four other women’s teams – the National Cup competitions feature 17 men’s teams and nine women’s teams, including all of the top Super 8 league clubs.
Our Vikings men were unluckily drawn out of the hat to play away to London GD Handball Club’s second string team in one of the two preliminary play-off matches on the weekend of 24/25 January 2015 to decide the eight teams for the quarter-final round, when the winners will then play away to Bristol HC on 21/22 February. We await to see whether our home and away league matches against Huddersfield Uni. on those weekends will need to be rearranged as a result.
In the women’s competition, our Vikings team were lucky enough to escape being drawn out for the preliminary round and have therefore gained a bye straight through to the semi-final round on the weekend of 25/26 April 2015. The semi-finals draw is expected to take place after February’s preliminary round match.
League Cup Men: Bolton Hussars, Coventry II, Cranfield, Eastbourne, Bristol, Liverpool HC, London GD II, Newcastle Vikings, Olympia II, Stroud
League Cup Women: Bristol, Liverpool Speke Garston, London Angels II, London GD II, Newcastle Vikings