Newcastle Vikings’ ladies reclaimed their Tyneside Handball Tournament crown on Saturday, as the University of Strathclyde won the men’s competition in a fast-paced action-packed day of handball.
Hosted by Newcastle Vikings Handball Club, the annual tournament, now in it’s third year at South Shields’ Temple Park Leisure Centre, welcomed men’s and women’s teams from across northern England and Scotland competing in the group stages, play-offs and finals. Newcastle Vikings’ men took on the newly-established Sunderland side, combined teams from York Hunters-Durham University and Edinburgh-Newcastle, the University of Strathclyde and reigning two-time champions Glasgow, while the Vikings women were up against Durham University, the University of Leeds and Edinburgh.
Edinburgh’s draw with Durham University in the last of the women’s group-stage fixtures saw them win through to the final on goal difference, as Durham had to settle for third place ahead of the University of Leeds. However, Newcastle’s ladies were too strong for Edinburgh in the final as they ran out 17-10 winners in the highest-scoring match of the day. Vikings half-player Alina Inta claimed the tournament top-scorer prize with 13 goals.
A feisty local derby play-off encounter saw Sunderland beat Newcastle 9-7 in the play-off for third place to gain revenge for the Vikings’ group stage victory, while the Edinburgh-Newcastle team defeated York Hunters-Durham University 6-5 in the fifth place decider.
Glasgow’s men had gone through the group stages unbeaten and seemed set for their third Tyneside win in a row, but an evenly-matched final saw their Scottish student neighbours hold them to an 8-8 draw to take it to a nail-biting sudden-death penalty shoot-out to decide the title for the second year. This time, however, Glasgow were to be denied as the University of Strathclyde goalkeeper’s second save gave them a 6-5 shoot-out victory. Strathclyde’s Chris Mowat and Glasgow’s Yohann Gloaguen were the clear top-scorers in the men’s competition for the second year running with 26 and 21 goals respectively.
Newcastle Vikings Handball Club would like to thank all the teams for coming to take part and hope everyone enjoyed another great fun day.
Men’s group:
| Position | Team | W | D | L | For | Against | Goals +/- | Points |
| 1 | Glasgow | 5 | – | – | 45 | 21 | +24 | 15 |
| 2 | Uni. of Strathclyde | 4 | – | 1 | 53 | 31 | +22 | 13 |
| 3 | Newcastle Vikings | 3 | – | 2 | 37 | 36 | +1 | 11 |
| 4 | Sunderland | 2 | – | 3 | 27 | 31 | -4 | 9 |
| 5 | Edinburgh | 1 | – | 4 | 18 | 46 | -28 | 7 |
| 6 | York Hunters | – | – | 5 | 27 | 42 | -15 | 5 |
| York Hunters | 6 – 8 | Newcastle Vikings |
| Edinburgh | 1 – 5 | Sunderland |
| Glasgow | 9 – 7 | Uni. of Strathclyde |
| Sunderland | 10 – 8 | York Hunters |
| Newcastle Vikings | 6 – 10 | Glasgow |
| Uni. of Strathclyde | 14 – 6 | Edinburgh |
| York Hunters | 4 – 7 | Glasgow |
| Edinburgh | 4 – 12 | Newcastle Vikings |
| Sunderland | 5 – 9 | Uni. of Strathclyde |
| Newcastle Vikings | 5 – 4 | Sunderland |
| Uni. of Strathclyde | 11 – 5 | York Hunters |
| Edinburgh | 1 – 11 | Glasgow |
| Uni. of Strathclyde | 12 – 6 | Newcastle Vikings |
| York Hunters | 4 – 6 | Edinburgh |
| Glasgow | 8 – 3 | Sunderland |
Women’s group:
| Position | Team | W | D | L | For | Against | Goals +/- | Points |
| 1 | Newcastle Vikings | 2 | – | 1 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 7 |
| 2 | Edinburgh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 16 | +4 | 6 |
| 3 | Durham University | 1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 6 |
| 4 | University of Leeds | 1 | – | 2 | 12 | 23 | -11 | 5 |
| Edinburgh | 3 – 5 | Newcastle Vikings |
| Durham University | 6 – 7 | Leeds University |
| Leeds University | 3 – 9 | Edinburgh |
| Newcastle Vikings | 4 – 7 | Durham University |
| Leeds University | 2 – 8 | Newcastle Vikings |
| Durham University | 8 – 8 | Edinburgh |