Newcastle Vikings Handball Club’s men got back to winning ways with a morale-boosting 20-27 away win over the University of Leeds in their opening match of the 2018/19 England Handball Regional League North season in Bradford on Saturday.
The two sides both took their time getting into their stride in an evenly matched first half, as Newcastle took an early lead before the student side took advantage of a two-minute Vikings suspension to pull back and level the game 10-10 at half-time. Newcastle’s back-court players Julien Eng and Pablo Docampo led the way with for Newcastle with five and three goals respectively, while winger Adam Mobberley, line Ben Andrews and half Fedi Boussema also found the back of the net.
The half-time team talk helped the Vikings to pull together and address a few errors, and it clearly did the trick as they quickly opened up a four-goal advantage. With the defensive line staying stronger at the other end, a couple of 2-minute suspensions for Leeds players helped them push on further and extend their lead to seven, which they did well to hold on to through to the final whistle. 20-27 the final score to the Vikings as Eng fired in another seven strikes on his way to claiming the first Kafeneon player of the match award of the season from our club sponsors. Docampo added five more of his own, with Mobberley and Andrews each picking up a brace and winger Robert Thompson also adding his name to the scoresheet.
Newcastle Vikings: Pål Jakobsen (GK), Benjamin Andrews (3 goals), Mohamed Fedi Boussema (1), Adam Mobberley (3), Mark Harrison, Robert Thompson (1), Julien Eng (12), Craig Swanson, Pablo Docampo (7).