Handball journeys

 BARCA – KIEL Chris O’Reilly overtaking. Tom is sadly missed. RE must be thinking the same ! Pappadum eaten too quickly. Ekberg breaks quickly. 1-up by Kiel Montenegro first to avoid the 110 thing? Then seeing Spain all the way then ! Not many goals 2-2 4’30 Sneaking it Dika. Wiencek with ease and 2 Pads in a row for Paddy. 3-3 7’40 A totally different game Zarabek had a go at it with flair 3-4 8’ Superb goal by Paddy but landed inside before the shoot and yet goal given. Goals abound now 6-7 12’ Noelia must be in the arena Half of Kiel’s goals on a paddy caddy. Langaro equalises 9-9 17’ Aleix gets the rebound after Landin save 10-9 17’40 Weinhold holding the confidence high 11-11 19’40 More important things than handball in life? I am not sure ! Speedy Blaz hurting the defence and drawing at 13 22’ Great pass by Dika to Ben Ali Maciel on for Barca Reinkind of some kind. 14-15 23’50 Final Four without Tom does not feel right A couple of...

 KIELCE – VESZPREM Omar opens it for the first goal. Moryto does respond immediately 1-1 1’ Acrobatic save by Rodrigo Great combination with Nahi laying off and Karacic into empty net 2-2 3’ Karalek clearly aware and picks up the loose ball 4-3 6’ Quick fire Corrales to Kentin and 5-6 8’45 Neat finish by Kentin 5-7 10’ Nenadic standing above else 6-8 12’20 Omar on his own in the middle 7-9 13’30 Acrobatic Nicolas reduces the gap 8-9 14’ Talant very agitated AGAIN. Contrasting with calm Ilic Stinging defence and a couple of mistakes suddenly Alex drawing it at 10 but seconds later Lauge bends over 10-11 18’ Danish refs corrected by Rodrigo. Strlek responds to Kulesh bullet proof 11-12 20’ Wolff surprised by Nenadic 11-13 21’ Nahi denied by Rodrigo and Nenadic adds 14 th a min later Another magical Rodri Tournat reduces the arrears 12-14 23’40 Alex may have double dribbled Migellon concedes a needless 2-min 13-15 as penalty converted by Ma...

 Final Four week-end 18 and 19 June 2022 Attached picture is from Gothenburg, one of the elected venues for WM Men 2023. France and Spain may be split apart. Spain will be in beautiful Krakow ! Shock horror Macedonia trip not yet booked and fixtures lists always an issue.    Notwithstanding the declined media application having the relevant press and photography cards, this afternoon grinds to a halt. No wordings, no canvassing, no outdoor activity, no personal shopping. All eyes on the Holy Siege of Handball. In Koln we trust. It is St Bruno’s city after all. I must be at the polling station in South West London early doors on Sunday and there is no private jet for a fan to do the Koln commute. It is very rare to have four teams that you really like. That is true. For all sorts of reasons and emotions. In a short space of time: in just over ten years. Kielce v Veszpr é m, Kiel v Barcelona. Seriously there is no better thing in the world than watching the two ma...

 Kielce – Montpellier 18 May 2022 I missed Veszprem defeat to Aalborg but they are still off to Germany having received the Lisbon and the Budapest declinatures having forgotten to add one key piece of info.  Experience my friend. Get over ! This game should not be a torture affair. Where is the museum located by the way? Moryto intercepts and scores into the empty net after 40s Sego saves the counter seconds later Due to Talant and USAM I want Kielce to go through The yellow submarine of handball. Not a fan of Marin & Co, not great ref Why a damaged shirt should be replaced? No bound reinstatement 3-3 after 4’45 Talant using Nahi in a Jackson role. Interesting one. Sego has already got 3 saves but Kielce leads 5-4 after 9 mins played Strategic move pays off with Dylan’s speed 6-4 10’ Wolff saves from Hugo’s penalty to the raucous cheers. Espantosos applausos Tournat shouts with delirium as he cleverly swings the ball to the opposite post 7-4 ...

Easter not well planned Where to start really? Easter week has the perfect game France v Spain but I am stuck in London having poorly managed this early Easter friendly match and training invitation the day after the first round of France's presidential elections. Covid restrictions having played its part when tickets were on sale. Covid also led to a more frugal lifestyle and it is a struggle to get back into the normal things to do. European drea ms shattered USAM had an amazing European campaign and a lot of highs and lows this season. Both in the league, cups and Europe the good, the bad and the ugly occurred. I found out that Sir Vranjes is coming next season. Given what is happening with Aix I think it is the right thing to do because he will bring discipline and success as he did with Flensburg. Noelia from Asobal did that amazing interview with him a couple of years ago. Franck Maurice did well and I sometimes disagreed with the tactics and/or player selection. Yann who alw...

Saturday 12 March 2022 On a tube travel to Upney, a small greeny paradise soulless devoid of shops in East London. Handball frenzy has to start somewhere. Olympia ladies deployed an Ukraine friendship tee-shirt and their Ukrainian player Anastasia is wrapped with her Ukrainian flag Olympia started with a blitz through goals by energetic center backs and a couple of line play goals Statistics =  2-min suspensions Olympia 5 – West Eagles 4 Score = 7-1 11’, 8-4 15’, 8-5 17’, 9-6 23’30, 11-9 (half-time), 12-12 38’, 13-15 44’38, 15-15 47’45, 18-16 51’30, 19-18 53’, 21-19 56’, 21-20 58’, 22-21 59’10 and final score The impressive West Eagles psychological ability in coming back from a 7-0 early demolition is something to applaud. Games can be decided on small details and the missed penalty with just over a minute left prevented West Eagles from drawing/winning the match. During the last fifty seconds Olympia were playing a player short and resisted. With a couple of seconds l...

 NIMES NANCY 4 March 2022 19h GMT The draw making Nimes a bit feeble during the first 16 minutes 6-8 Great goal by Yahushira Why Teodor not in ? Do not understand the coaching Psychologically Nimes are affected by the match on Tuesday. Superb line play ball and drop ball 9-12 20’30 Luc Tobie for Gibernon 10-12 22’ Dommage pour BG. UNLUCKY REMI and BG. Minel gets USAM a bit closer 11-12 24’40 Despite change in defence, superb line play by Rocha 11-13 Agree with Nancy player and it should not be a 2-min How come Quentin’s goal given Empty goal quick reaction13-14 27’ Quick empty goal by Lucho 14-14 27’30 Missed throw by Remi. Instead, a lovely wing goal. Finally, BG a line play goal! 15-15 29’35 Salou on the post Great pass to Mo 16-15 31’20 Lead lasting 15 seconds Staggered defence stopped again. Completely different match from Tuesday 17-16 33’45 Superb Dupuy goal Superb Aisgersson goal But counter by Nancy. Nimes are really...