Hi all,

Yesterday was the 4th game day of the 2015 Wellington League. Our boys played the Hutt Hawks Handball Club and won 35:26 (14:12). We started well into the game and were quickly up by 4 goals (5:1) and controlled the game until approximately the 15th minute, then our concentration dropped a little bit and the Hawks were able to close the gap and even drew the score (10:10). After a timeout we regrouped and started building momentum again that helped us to go with a 2 goals lead into halftime (14:12).
The start of the second half saw the Vikings jumping up to a 5 goals lead (14:19) and Hawks counter attacking themselves back into the game (17:19) shortly after. From that point forward the Vikings benefited heavily from having a deep bench and keeping the speed high in the game as the Hutt Hawks didn’t had anyone one bench to provide some relief. The Vikings build further their lead (22:17, 25:19, 30:23) to the final score of 35:26.
Overall the team showcased a much improved team defense in compare to the last games and also started to play more as a team in attack, which ultimately led to everyone (almost evenly) scoring – except the Goalie.
Vikings Men: Petr; Luke 9, Daniel 4, Josh 4, Soeren 4, Nico 3, Nino 3, Jack 3, Sam K 3, Frederic 2

The Vikings women didn’t had an official league game and instead were facing the Under 20 National team (minus the Vikings players) in a test game. The game started quite good (5:2) but after 10 minutes the team lost the momentum and allowed the U20s NZ team to gain some of it, therefore the score turned around (5:8). The team recovered and shortened the gap going into halftime (8:9).
In second half the team started very well and especially the fast break worked really well – the team took the lead (12:11) and and were up with 3 goals (18:15) with 10 minutes to play. Unfortunately the team lost the momentum and the energy of the players rapidly decreased, so the NZ U20s team could equalize (18:18) and run away with a win (24:18).
Big thanks to both goalies (Grace and Abbey) who played each for both teams (one half each) and showed some great saves.
Vikings Women: Grace/Abbey; Bridget 7, Lizzie 4, Alex 3, Ellie 2, Laura 1, Hannah 1, Maddy H, Kirstie

Next games – next Sunday
3:30pm – Women – Vikings vs Vic Uni
8:00pm – Men – Vikings vs Spartanz
(both teams are duty free for the other games)