Ealing youngsters to fly Middlesex flag in national finals
Ealing Handball Club’s Under-16 boys and girls teams will compete for Middlesex in the national finals in December after winning their regional play-offs.
Both sides were built around the ones put together at the end of last season to play in the London Youth Games, where the girls took bronze and boys fifth.
In their play-off match, the girls recorded a comprehensive 20-0 win over a young Sussex side, with Emeisha Joseph-Scarlett keeping a clean sheet in goal. Nickol Dusznik was the top scorer with 11 goals, while Harlie McMurray scored three.
In the boys match, Middlesex took on Surrey and after a good start found themselves pegged back at 4-4 and then 7-7.
After changing to a 5-1 defence formation, Middlesex had opened a two-goal lead by half-time, thanks to some good work at the back by Noah Bridges and Pedro Lourenco and some excellent line play by Saimonas Urbutis.
With goalkeeper Kacper Wojcik in good form, they stretched their lead after the break and won 18-12. Pedro Lourenco scored nine goals, ably supported by Saimonas Urbutis with six.
Ealing head coach Paul Bray said: “This was an excellent performance by both teams. The girls defended superbly and capitalised with some good attacks. The boys won a tough game against a strong Surrey side, but kept their composure well.
“We are really pleased to have both teams in the national finals and will hope to go one better than last year when our boys team took silver.”
Middlesex Under-16 girls: Emeisha Joseph-Scarlett, Nickol Dusznik, Klaudia Las, Harlie MacMurray, Leanne Tahabashy, Zoe Tuckwell, Elly Stonebridge, Zoe Lacour, Georgina Cincu.
Middlesex U16 boys team: Kacper Wojcik, Noah Bridges, Tarek Gharbi, Razvan Mihaila, Alexis Noel, Ruairi O’Connor-Harte, Thomas Ruitenbeek, Daniel Rushton, Saimonas Urbutis, Pedro Lourenco, Diogo Simoes.
