Newcastle Vikings’ ladies and East Kilbride’s EK82 men each overcome Edinburgh to win the finals matches at last weekend’s 8th Tyneside Handball Tournament.
In a day of quick-fire 20-minute matches at the Benfield Centre for Sporting Excellence, Newcastle’s men opened in positive fashion with a big 4-15 victory against Durham University. But this ultimately turned out to be their only win of the competition, with subsequent losses 13-11 to Edinburgh, 11-18 to EK82 and 11-8 to York leaving them fourth in the group.
EK82 topped the men’s group table undefeated with three wins and a draw, ahead of Edinburgh and the North East England trio of York, Newcastle and Durham. The Scottish rivals then took on each other once again in a closely fought final, which the East Kilbride club won 10-12 to record their second Tyneside tournament title, while inaugural winners Edinburgh had to settle for their third runners-up spot.
Coming off the back of recently winning the 2021/22 Scottish Handball league title, Edinburgh women’s strong form was clearly evident as they went unbeaten in the group stage, winning all four of their matches against Newcastle and Durham University. The Vikings ladies lost 9-7 and 9-4 to Edinburgh, while beating Durham 8-6 and 8-2, to finish second in the group.
But in the final Newcastle’s attacking team plays clicked into place right from the start as they raced into an early lead before holding off a late resurgence from 2019’s reigning Tyneside tournament champions to score a 7-10 victory. The unexpected win made it the fourth time that the Vikings women have won their home tournament, with Edinburgh having also won on three previous occasions and been runner’s up twice before too.
EK82’s Chris Mowat and Durham University’s Selina Madsen each gained the most match MVP nominations to be voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Players. The top scorers of the day were Edinburgh’s Paul Getca with 22 goals and Maria Diaz with 15 goals.
Newcastle’s men and women are now looking forward to teaming up with Edinburgh for next month’s end-of-season Liverpool International Handball Tournament, ahead of hitting the sand for the summer’s British Beach Handball Championships.
Newcastle Vikings men: Charlie Emmett (GK), Daniel Walsh (GK), Ioan Polenciuc (12 goals), Aaron Edmundson (3), Adam Mobberley (8), Adam Batley (6), Sam Downie, Timo Keller (5), Chris Morgan-Smith (7), Thomas Bell (1).
Newcastle Vikings women: Caroline Bergum (GK), Andrea King (GK, 3 goals), Lisa Mistareck (12), Marlen Slinning Goulty, Rozsa Szucs (1), Megan Barraclough (4), Maria Gonzalez Pascual, Lisa Bendal (1), Ana (1), Romina Schneider (5), Lilian Vogel (8).
