Historic victory for handball club

Seven senior men’s teams from all over Ireland participated in the tournament which was hosted by Dublin City University.

The sport is still in its’ early years in the island of Ireland and the Belfast team is currently the only Northern Irish team registered with the IOHA.

Having only recently played two friendlies, the inexperienced Belfast side were without a win going into the competition and were given a baptism of fire in their first match against a side that haven’t lost in five years, Dublin International (DI). DI’s level of fitness and great selection of skilled international players was too much for the eclectic mix of Ulster based men who fought hard in a 23-9 defeat.

Dublin based team Astra also proved to be worthy opponents in the second group match as they continually pushed the Belfast defence to its’ physical and tactical limit. The lack of discipline was obvious as Belfast were hit by five successive two minute suspensions for dangerous tackles, including their goalkeeper! Losing 22-12 Belfast had to settle for third place in the group and a 5th/6th place play off against Lughnasa the next day.

On Sunday Belfast finally pulled together and got the ball travelling. The defending mistakes from the previous match were gone and a rhythm was imposed by a more confident and mature team. Despite trailing 6-4 at half time, Belfast turned the game around with some excellent play in attack. At the final whistle Belfast achieved their first ever win with a convincing 12-9 victory, a massive step from a club that only started less than six months ago!

Club President, Darren Taylor said, “This is a tremendous boost for the club and is a culmination of the hard work we have put into developing our sport over the last six months. It is our intention to enter the league next season, a first for a club from the North of Ireland, so we hope this victory will be the start of many more to come.

“Our club is very diverse, with members as young as 15, male and female, from all sides of the community and various nationalities. We have proved that sport can cross the divide and achieve positive results.”

Belfast Olympic Handball club is open to everyone aged 15 and over. Training is at Lough Moss Leisure Centre in Carryduff every Friday from 9-10pm. New members are always welcome.