Batley leads Vikings to impressive win

NEWCASTLE Vikings men’s team fought back for a brilliant 24-32 away win over Tryst 77 in Sunday’s Scottish Development League encounter in Glasgow.

After East Kilbride’s EK82 had forfeited last week’s scheduled fixture in Newcastle, this match-up at Glasgow’s Hutcheson’s Grammar School was only the Vikings’ third league match in what has been a rather disjointed season in the second tier division.

But the team played well together in what was a fast, hard game throughout, with player-coach Adam Batley on fire, leading Newcastle’s offence with 15 goals from the back court.

A tight first half was narrowly edged 15-14 by Tryst. Early braces from Batley, Iacopo Benesperi and Aaron Edmundson, and one from Kimi Karjalainen, were followed by five more from Batley and further strikes from Edmundson and Benesperi

as the Vikings kept in touch with the home side.

However, Newcastle gradually pulled away in the second half. Batley continued to find the back of the net, adding another eight goals to his personal haul, while Edmundson added four more to his tally.

Benesperi struck his fourth, before Adam Keeney and Jan Zan got their names on the scoresheet with doubles and Ross Comrie also scored his first Vikings goal late on.

The Vikings would like to thank Tryst for the competitive game. Thanks also to Kimi and Jan for travelling up from York to play for the team again.

The final 24-32 result, together with the three points gained from last week’s forfeited match, pushes the Vikings up into third place in the

Scottish Development League table.

Newcastle’s men are next scheduled for a home re-match against Kelvinside on Saturday May 11 at the Benfield Centre for Sporting Excellence.

In the meantime, the Vikings ladies are back in action next weekend, taking on Tryst in their Scottish League Cup semi-final, with the third/fourth play-off and cup final matches taking place the following weekend. Newcastle Vikings: Charlie Emmet (GK), Jan Joachim Zan (2 goals), Adam Batley (15), Kimi Karjalainen (1), Aaron Edmundson (7), Alexander Nietosvuori, Iacopo Benesperi (4), Adam Keeney (2), Ross Comrie (1).