Latest News
Posted on June 23rd 2014
Champions! Under 15 handball team win London Youth Games
Monday 23 June
Our Under 15 handball team represented Southwark at the London Youth Games on Sunday and were crowned champions, reports coach Marcus Kudliskis.
On Sunday the Harris Bulldogs travelled to the Copperbox, Olympic Park, to represent Southwark in the 2014 London Youth Games Handball Finals.
The Bulldogs were placed in a very difficult group against Barnet, Ealing, Barking and Dagenham and reigning champions, Hackney.
The first game against Barking and Dagenham; our team were not at their best for their first match (this was probably due to the early start and having to catch the coach at 6.30am!), thankfully Deztinie managed to score in the last 30 seconds winning the game 1-0.
Toughest game so far
Next up Barnet, we knew that goal difference was vital and set a target of five goals and proceeded to win the game, 6-0. Our next match was against the reigning champions, Hackney. This was our toughest match of the tournament so far. Hackney had fantastic support both on and off the court, they were even being filmed by their local Borough throughout the day. Both teams battled hard to create scoring opportunities; final score 0-0.
Our final group game was against Ealing, we were level on points with Hackney so we had to ensure that the goals counted. With the Bulldogs pumped up for goals, they won 5-2.
Quarter final
In the quarter final the Bulldogs were drawn against Redbridge. Redbridge are coached by an ex-England Handball player, who originally trained with the Bulldogs, when the team was first formed and even held 1-2-1 coaching sessions with me to improve my coaching techniques. We definitely learnt from the ‘Master’ and proceeded to smash our way to victory scoring a convincing 6-2.
Semi final
In the semi-final, we were up against the reigning champions once again, Hackney. Hackney’s supporters were plentiful and incredibly vocal! However, within the first few minutes their cheers were silenced by a superb goal scored by Tamika. Sadly, Hackney managed to score towards the end of the game and we were tied at 1-1. The game went into two minutes of additional time. Our game plan was to hold firm at the back defence and break quickly to score the goals and this is exactly what the Bulldogs did! With a stunning cross court pass by Chenoray to Deztinie, who was wiped out with a clear goal shooting opportunity, a penalty was awarded. Deztinie took the ball and as I had my back turned I heard the raw of the team and knew that Deztinie had sunk the ball into the back of the net! We held a tight defence for the last 30 seconds waiting for the sound of the horn, which eventually came. We won the match, 2-1.
Champions!
The final was against Brent, an arch rival team who we will be meeting again in the National Championships this Thursday. We were really surprised that they did not put up much of a challenge and we won the final 3-0.
The students were amazing throughout the tournament. They played incredibly well, with fantastic team spirit. I could not have asked anything more from them. I am incredibly proud of their achievement and they should be so proud of themselves too!
The National Finals are taking place on Thursday at Birmingham’s International Futsal Arena. Both the U13s and U15s will compete to become National Champions. They are down to the last four teams in the country, which is already an amazing achievement!
The Champions of the 2014 London Youth Games are: Tamika (Capt), Fathia, Bintu, Shanaya, Halima, Tiah, Ruqayyah, Chenoray, Deztinie (Vice Capt, Marika, Shantell, Nyrman-Euloge.
