Cup win comes at a painful price for Eagles

Ruislip Eagles lost Gil Lewis to a broken forearm as they moved into the last eight of the EHA Cup with a 33-12 victory over Loughborough University.

It was the first time the Eagles had met Loughborough, recognised as one of the best university handball teams in the country, but showed their superiority on court.

The victory came at a cost though, with Lewis injured following a challenge by a Loughborough defender.

The Eagles’ clinical finishing saw them open up a 17-5 lead at the break, with playmaker Bennet Saumer, Sven Moeckel and Oli Barton (pictured above) impressing.

When Loughborough did break through the strong Ruislip defence, they found Stefan Bauer in good form to prevent them scoring.

Romas Sakovicius scored seven of his overall nine goals in the second half, which gave Eagles the opportunity to offer debuts to ex-Loughborough Uni players Tom Marsden and Mike Hinchliffe.

Both did well against their former teammates, Marsden making several good saves in goal and Hinchcliffe adding his name to the scoresheet.

Coach Marc Fayemi said: “We managed the game very well with all players contributing efficiently.

“You can always be at risk of becoming complacent when you lead by such a big margin early on in a game. The players instead kept their focus.”

Eagles will meet Cambridge HC in the quarter-finals next month.