Schools show their hand at the Games
HANDBALL
THE 2018 Tyne and Wear Handball Schools Games saw three south-of-theTyne schools crowned champions at Temple Park Leisure Centre in South Shields.
The morning’s girls’ under-13 matches, each lasting ten minutes, produced particularly high-scoring games.
Both Sunderland’s Castle View Enterprise Academy and South Shields’ St Wilfrid’s RC College picked up impressive 12-0 wins over Walbottle Campus.
Wallsend’s Churchill Community Academy also notched an 8-0 scoreline over the Newcastle school.
St Wilfrid’s went on to win the under-13 girls’ competition, remaining unbeaten to retain their title and beating runnersup Castle View Enterprise Academy 4-1 in their final match.
Washington’s Oxclose Community Academy also went undefeated in winning the under-15 girls’ competition with two wins and a draw.
They took the gold medals with a closefought 1-0 victory over runners-up St Wilfrid’s in the final match.
North Shields’ John Spence High School finished close behind in third place ahead of Walbottle Campus.
In the afternoon’s boys’ matches, St Wilfrid’s under-13s again scored the biggest victory of all the games with an 11-3 victory over Walbottle Campus.
However, Washington’s Oxclose Community Academy’s greater consistency won them the competition.
They were unbeaten with two wins and a draw, just ahead of the South Shields school.
Churchill Community Academy just pipped Walbottle Campus for third place.
The boys’ under-15 competition went down to the wire and was ultimately decided on goal difference.
Washington-based Biddick Academy’s 7-0 victory over Churchill Community Academy in the penultimate match helped them to a +10 goal difference, which proved enough to pip Walbottle Campus - who could only beat Boldon School 3-1 in the last game of the day for an aggregate +7 goal difference.
Boldon School’s 5-1 success over Churchill proved decisive in gaining them third place.
Organisers of the event were Tyne and Wear Sport and Newcastle Vikings Handball Club.
A Vikings’ spokesman said: “It was a great day of competitive handball.”
All the champions now go on to take part in the North East Regional Handball Finals on Thursday, April 26, also at Temple Park.