Handball News, February 3 2010

Issue 106February 3

2010

Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball AssociationFor more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com

International Men’sHandball ActionComing to Britain

WORLD class handballaction is set to come toGreat Britain later this yearafter the draw for the 2012Men’s EuropeanChampionships gave GBthe right to host theirgroup matches. Great Britain will playEstonia, Cyprus andBulgaria over three daysfrom June 11-13, with thewinner of the group goingthrough to the secondround of qualification,which will be a series ofhome and away matchesagainst another threeopponents.

GB Head Coach DraganDjukic (pictured)attended the drawin Vienna, andshortlyafterwardshe said: “Iam veryhappy thatwe will beofficiallyparticipating in thistournamentalongside allthe otherEuropean nations,that is the most importantthing.

“I am also happy that wehave the chance to play at

home, because itgives us chance

for the Britishpeople tosee us, andto find outwhat abeautifulgamehandball

is. “I am

also happybecause the

players and Ibelieve that our

time is coming - that wewill be stronger, more

experienced and ready fora good fight with ouropponents, and I believewe are competitive withthem! “It will also give handballin Britain a good chance togain experience which isimportant for the OlympicGames, not just for theplayers but also fororganisers, volunteers,coaches, journalists -everybody.” Details of the matchdates and venues will bereleased later in the year.

Euro 2012 Qualification Games to be Played in Great Britain


Issue 106February 3

2010

Williams WinningFitness Battle

A fractured metatarsalleft the 22-year-old fromBury on the sidelines, buthe began his rehab lastweek and, after a course oftreatment which couldinclude ultrasound andinjections, he is on the roadto recovery. And once he is back fit,he could be in line for amove to Hungary, wherehe could find more regularhandball than he was

getting with BSV inDenmark before his injury. “It is one of the top fiveleagues in Europe and I donot think my Danish clubwill hold me back fromplaying at a higher level,”said Williams, pictured. “I am still young and Iwasn’t getting muchplaying time. I needed tofind somewhere that Icould get more court timeto develop my game.” Williams has also had

interest from clubs inNorway, but headded: “After I’mback fit, the likelihoodthen is that I will go toHungary if the offer isstill there when I haverecovered. “It has been quite adrastic time of changeover the last year but Ihave always had belief inmy ability that I was goingto make it. There is a longway to go but I want to play

in the Olympics. I’m on theright path and this year hashelped me to improve a lot.”Text: Joe Boyle (RossendaleFree Press).

INJURED GB Men’s team captain Ciaran Williams could be back in action in fiveweeks - but only after a gruelling rehabilitation programme at the Olympic MedicalInstitute at Bisham Abbey.

Pic

: D

an

Row

ley

(Colorsport).

New Club For GBAce McMillan

McCafferty LovesThe Italian Job

GREAT Britain pivot DanMcMillan has moved toDanish outfit Viby IFfollowing a successful trialwith the Second Division club. McMillan, a 28-year-oldScottish born player wholived in the New Forest formuch of his life, played hisfirst game for the team lastweekend - againstBjerringbro-Silkeborg, whofeatured several of his GBteam-mates. “I had not told the other GBguys that I would be playingin the game so it wassomewhat of a surprise tothem to see me kitted up andwarming up against thembefore the game!” saidMcMillan. He came on after 14 minutesand made a real impact,

defending well and scoringthree out of four shots. He played out the rest ofthe game, only leaving thecourt with a bloody nose -accidentally inflicted by GBteam-mate Chris Mohr! “The game was very closeuntil near the end,” addedMcMillan. “It was fast-pacedbut ultimately ended up withViby going a couple of goalsahead with ten minutes left,and eventually winning 24-21. The trial with Viby wasarranged by Aksel Norgaardat the IHA Academy in Aarhuswhere McMillan and severalof the other GB players live,and team-mate GarethPriddle from Cardiff alsoattended, but will have towait for his paperwork tocome through before his trial.

LIFE in Italy is helping GBwomen’s team captain LynnMcCafferty improve herhandball, with a differentstyle of play and toughfitness regime payingdividends. With her help, Brixen aresecond in the league andcould still make the play-offs for a spot in the topflight. And from aninternational point of view,McCafferty is benefittingfrom improved fitness withregular sessions with astrength and conditioningcoach being part of theregular regime for all theplayers at Brixen. “Playing for Brixen ishelping me experiencedifferent playing styles,”

she said. “And I have theopportunity to play for 60minutes so I am getting fitand trying to shoot moreand gain some confidence. “We also work with astrength and conditioningcoach which is perfect, aswhen we are with GB it isimportant to be fit andconditioned.” “Handball here in theSecond League is a little bitdifferent to what I am usedto, and I have definitelytaken my time to get usedto it! But I do hope now thatI am more aware of theculture, the style, the homeand away 'rulings' and mostimportantly working withmy team.”


Issue 106February 3

2010

Late Flourish HelpsDanes Scrape Win

TITLE hopefuls Great Dane battled to a close 22-19 victory over Thames in theWomen’s English League on Saturday, fighting back from a half-time deficit to securevictory at Leyton SCORE Centre in London.

Former nationalchampions Great Dane areone of two unbeaten clubsin the league this seasonwith reigning championsRuislip Eagles also with aloss, but Thames gave thema tough time with somestrong defending. The match was closethroughout the first half,with Great Dane leadingnarrowly but them trailing8-9 at the break. The pressure increased onGreat Dane as Thamesbegan the second half well

and led by four goals until alate flurry from Great Dane,helped by some strongdefence and good fastbreaks, saw them emergevictorious. Seven goals from GreatDane’s experienced AnneKandler helped them tovictory, while joint topscorers for Thames werePauline Hervouet andMarianne Meryova, withfive each. Leaders Ruislip Eaglessecured their third leaguewin of the season when they

overcame Olympia 24-15 atLeyton. A superb performancefrom goalkeeper KerstinPapenfuss helped Ruislip tovictory and earned her theman of the match award,although the whole Eagles’defence was solid. At the other end of thecourt, Daniella Sposi top-scored with eight goals forRuislip Eagles, while Zukovaadded another five.

Photographer AndrewFoden attended theMen’s English Leaguematches at Moulton onSunday. For more of hisimages, go towww.picasaweb.google

.com/britishhandball

Pictured, from left, are EHF Vice President Jean Brihault, JJ Rowland, GünterPfeistlinger, EHF President Tor Lian, EHF Secretary General Michael Wiederer.

A NEW award has beenlaunched by the EuropeanHandball Federation inmemory of its formerCommunications Manager,Siân Rowland, who passedaway in December 2008. The Siân Rowland MediaAward was announced duringthe final weekend of theninth Men’s European

Handball Championship inVienna, Austria. The first recipient of theaward was GünterPfeistlinger, Chairman of theAIPS Handball Commission,who worked together withSiân at several EuropeanChampionships and otherhandball events in her 10

years with the EuropeanFederation. The Award will bepresented on a biennial basisat the Men’s EuropeanChampionship. The 2010award was presented at thefinal press conference of theEuro 2010 event by Tor Lian,President of the EHF andSiân’s brother, JJ Rowland.

Issue 106February 3

2010

Manchester SecureNorthern Title

Men’s English Lge (North) P W D L F A Diff Pts

Manchester 11 10 0 1 344 227 117 20

Liverpool 10 6 1 3 262 236 26 13

Nottingham University 10 5 2 4 248 246 2 12

Salford 8 5 0 3 230 206 24 10

Liverpool Speke Garston 9 3 0 6 222 223 -1 6

Manchester University 9 2 0 7 165 250 -85 4

Wirral 9 0 1 8 175 258 -83 1

Men’s English Lge (South) P W D L F A Diff Pts

Great Dane 6 5 1 0 170 110 60 11

Cambridge 6 4 1 1 150 123 27 9

Olympia 6 3 0 3 124 137 -13 6

Ruislip Eagles 6 2 0 4 108 143 -35 4

Thames 6 0 0 6 105 144 -39 0

Women’s English League P W D L F A Diff Pts

Ruislip Eagles 4 3 1 0 93 70 23 7

Great Dane 4 3 1 0 82 71 11 7

Thames 4 0 1 3 77 86 -9 1

Olympia 4 0 1 3 58 83 -25 1

Results, January 30 2010

Results, January 31 2010Men’s English Lge (North): Manchester 43Manchester Univ 16, Wirral 25 Nottingham 25,Liverpool Speke Garston 21 Salford 30.

Men’s English Lge (South): Great Dane 33Ruislip Eagles 16, Olympia 33 Cambridge 29.

Fixtures, February 6 2010

Women’s English Lge: Thames 19 Great Dane22, Olympia 15 Ruislip Eagles 24.


Men’s Scottish League: Glasgow v Liberton,Tryst v EK82, Ayr v Gracemount. No Game:Cumbernauld.

CLUBS and spectators due to attend the finalsof the EHA Cup at the Brentwood Centre inEssex should note that the event has beenmoved forward 24 hours to Saturday, June 5.

MANCHESTER secured the Northern Section title for the second year running when theyovercame rivals Manchester University 43-16 in a thrilling clash in Liverpool on Sunday.

OLYMPIA secured a 33-29victory over Cambridge inthe Men’s English LeagueSouthern Section onSunday, to keep up theirhopes of taking secondspot from their rivals.

With results from the

normal season being

carried over into the end-

of-season play-offs,

Olympia’s victory over

Cambridge could prove

crucial if they both reachthe play-offs. And in other SouthernSection action, leadersGreat Dane proved easy33-16 winners over RuislipEagles.

Despite being without severalkey players, the Manchestersquad stepped up well and led8-1 after 12 minutes havingtaken control from the start. 22-4 ahead at the break, achange back to a 6:0 defencekept Manchester universityguessing, and they eventually

ran out 43-16 winners withJeremy Piton scoring 14. Meanwhile, fourth-placedSalford kept alive their hopes ofreaching the play-offs whenthey beat Liverpool SpekeGarston 30-21, while third-placed Nottingham Universityhad to settle for a shock 25-25

draw with bottom of the tableWirral. The previous day, hostsNottingham played seven-manWirral. They led narrowly 12-11 athalf time, but 13-manNottingham couldn’t pull awayto a victory, with Wirral battlingdoggedly to secure their firstleague point of the season.

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Handball News, February 3 2010