Sunday saw Newcastle Vikings Handball Club’s juniors and mini-Vikings take centre stage in an afternoon of fun matches at the Benfield Centre for Sporting Excellence.
The mini-Vikings and Gosforth 4-7 year olds played three 2 x 5-minute games, either side of the two junior matches of 2 x 13 minutes between the Vikings’ Temple Park-based South Shields satellite club and their Benfield-based 8-15 year old players.
The Vikings blues beat Gosforth’s neon greens 10-6 in the opening minis game, having led 4-2 at half-time. The second game saw the same scoreline at the end of the first half, but it was much closer as the Vikings just held on for a 4-5 win. Gaining in confidence from those first two games, Gosforth matched the Vikings in the final minis match, 3-3 at half-time before ending in an exciting 6-6 draw.
In the first of the juniors matches, Benfield let a 2-3 half-time lead slip as the Temple Park team fought back for an 8-3 win. The second game was 1-1 at the break before a tense finish saw Temple Park also take that game 5-4.
Newcastle Vikings’ head coach Marlen Goulty was really pleased with the fantastic team spirit as all the children had lots of fun in a great atmosphere created by their watching families and friends, from toddlers to grandparents, cheering them all on. “The supporters and coaches were especially impressed with the level of handball from both junior teams in their matches. There were some great shots from all positions and goalkeeping too”.
The Vikings would like to thank all the children and supporters for coming along, and particularly all of the volunteers for helping to make the event happen.