Hawks off to a flyer

HANDBALL: THE first steps into the world of open-age handball proved confident ones for North-East Manchester Hawks.

The club are still competing in the national under-18 league this season, but the same squads have been entered for the first time into the Development League, effectively the sport’s second division.

And the opening games brought three victories, with the men defeating Liverpool University 34-14 and the women completing a double with a hard-fought 22-15 success over Deva (Chester) before overpowering Loughborough University 37-4 in matches played at Liverpool’s Greenbank sports complex.

The men were first on court and it soon became clear that their high-tempo play was going to be difficult for their varsity opponents to handle.

Early counter-attack goals from Pawel Winnicki and powerful shooting of James Higgins and Sam Bedlow saw Hawks lead 15-5 at the break. A series of technical lapses conceded a lot of early possession in the second half, but the Hawks recovered their composure to pull clear.

Left-winger Tyrell Coley was particularly impressive, netting six of his seven shots while also coming up with two interceptions and an assist.

The women’s clash with Deva was a much tighter affair. The Hawks edged the first half 8-5 after some excellent left-wing shooting from Ellie Whitehead and the brilliant goalkeeping of Kara Hunte, who made 16 first-half saves.

With new signing Sophie Unsworth and Beth Wilbraham in the goals after the break the Hawks stayed ahead, and crucial late strikes from Eliza Morgan and Becky Barnes killed off any hopes Deva had of a comeback.