●Sunday 13 May 2007 (Bellevue, Manchester)
Manchester HC 29 – 33 Cambridge (Playoffs 1/4 finals)
Runners up in the North League, Manchester were opposed to Cambridge, who had finished 3rd in the South, and who had had a extremely encouraging end of season (23-23 against Great Danes, 31-32 against English Champions Oxford).
Manchester were missing the very influential Armesto, but things started well. After 16 minutes on the court, Manchester were leading by 7 goals to 3. Unfortunately, this advantage quickly melted away, as Cambridge started to settle. The visitors deserved to be level at half-time, but Hammache made it 12-10 in the very last second.
With a two goal advantage at half time, it dangerously looked like last year’s quarter finals, when Oxford University had come back from a deficit of 2 to win the game.
Was history repeating itself ? Into the first minute of the second half, Cambridge were back to 12-12. Manchester had lost the control of the game, and their opponents pulled away, launching waves of attacks on the Mancunian defence crucially missing Armesto (43rd, 25-21). The Southerners kept their cool and comfortably maintained their advantage over Manchester, who never looked able to really challenge the Cambridge lead (FT, 34-29).
Team: Georgiou (4), Tognia, Fulton, Zabaleta (2) Bussell, Ioannides (7), Hammache (5), Despres (5), Taleb, Tamsson, Lasek (6). Goalkeepers : Szymanski (78 min.), Garcia (2), Deak
●Sunday 22 April 2007 (Greenbank, Liverpool)
Manchester University 20 – 20 Manchester HC
After the good performance against London Great Danes, Manchester HC was hoping to beat their local rivals, and call a halt to their winning run.
The absence of key players (Zabaleta for HC, for University), combined to the fact that both teams had top-class goalkeepers, can explain why only 40 goals were scored during the game, which was the last before the playoffs.
Manchester HC had a poor start, and within 15 minutes, the University team had a 4-goal lead (6-2). MHC made a quick tactical change and, with Ioannides back to his much-loved left wing, they quickly levelled (23rd, 6-6). 7 minutes later, at half time, it was Manchester University 11, Manchester HC 10. The second half saw what probably will remain the best goalkeeping moment of the season. Szymanski, who had had a terrific game a week earlier, was disgustingly brilliant. When University could have sunk MHC with several successive fast breaks, it was the Polish goalkeeper who kept them afloat, saving not less than 8 close range shots!! (50th, 17-16) And for 15 minutes, none of the keepers had to get the ball from the nets…
With only 30 seconds to go, and 19-19 on the mark, a goal would have meant victory. University scored, and it seemed all over. Two seconds before the final whistle, nine metres from the University goal, MHC managed to get a free throw. Ioannides’ shot, somehow, flew past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net!
Team: Georgiou (1), Armesto, Fulton, Bussell (5), Ioannides (12), Hammache (4), Despres. Goalkeepers : Szymanski (80 min.), Deak
●Sunday 15 April 2007 (Bellevue, Manchester)
Manchester HC 25 – 27 London Great Danes (British Cup, ½ finals)
Manchester HC were the first northern team to reach the British Cup semi-finals, and were drawn again the most successful club in British Handball history, London Great Danes.
Despite a ticket to the final in Sheffield at stake, MHC started confidently, giving a good game to the south league champions. On each side, the goalkeepers saved the first shots, but it was London who first took the advantage (14th, 5-3). Facing 6 tall and strong players, Manchester had to use the wings as much as possible. Probably giving his best game of the season, Ioannides scored goals after goals, even in very difficult positions. At half-time, the Londoners were only one goal in front (11-12). Manchester came back determined to take the lead. There was some great moves from both sides, and plenty of superb saves, especially in the Mancunian goal. After 45 minutes played, MHC and LGD were level : 20-20. Everybody then thought there would be a repeat of the ¼ finals, with some extra-time play. But it did not happen. London had come with 14 players, and were physically stronger towards the end. Manchester lost their clear-thinkink, and missed some good opportunities. The Great Danes made the most of it, and scored two goals back to back with 3 minutes to go. Manchester were left disappointed, while London celebrated getting to the finals for the umpteenth time.
Team: Georgiou (1), Armesto, Zabaleta (3), Taleb, Bussell (5), Ioannides (12), Hammache (4), Despres. Goalkeepers : Szymanski (80 min.), Deak.
Jean-Charles Després: “I’ve spent the game on the bench, but I feel tired as well. It was a very intense game, and today I’d like to say well done to Ioannis – he scored plenty-, and Luke (Szymanski) who made some crucial saves when we suffered the most. The lads can be proud : for 50 minutes, we were as good as the Danes, if not better. Remember that they had 13 players, against 7 for us.”
●Sunday 18 March 2007 (Bellevue, Manchester)
Nottingham 25 - 34 Manchester
Manchester was hosting league-bottom Nottingham after having played official and friendly matches earlier this season. This led to a very relaxed approach to the game, enhanced by the fact the Midlands team could only field 6 players. This was confirmed by the score at half time, with the teams surprisingly level (16-16). A few words from Jose Armesto at half time was enough to wake the team up and the Manchester rookies quickly built a lead (40th, 26-17). The last 20 minutes saw the Mancunians vainly trying to increase the 9-goal gap, but the lack of experience at this level meant they never managed to do so. After the game, and despite missing a good opportunity to improve the goal tally, there was relief within the squad: another two points for Manchester HC, which will hopefully help secure a good ranking for the playoffs.
Team: Georgiou, Zabaleta, Hammache, Fulton, Despres, Bussell, Babinski. Goalkeeper : Deak
●Saturday 10 March 2007 (Greenbank, Liverpool)
Liverpool 27-29 Manchester HC (British Cup, ¼ finals)
The two sides having met the week before in the league, the match was the chance for the Merseysiders to beat us twice in a row. For us, it was the chance to show we could bounce back.
Liverpool started in the same fashion, and took an early lead (5-2, 10th min.). But we quickly narrowed our defence, closing the gaps. In attack, we also made good use of the width of the Greenbank court and, thanks to a hot Zabaleta, managed to bring the scores level to 5-5. At half-time, Liverpool was trailing behind (7-10).
After the break, the Liverpool players returned to the court with their trademark fighting spirit. A bit stronger in defence, a bit quicker in attack, and they were back (13-13, 50th min.). For most of the second half, the two sides both fought hard to try to get the victory. At the whistle, nobody was really surprised to go to extra-time, even if we could have won the game in the dying seconds with a penalty (21-21).
After the 2 5-minute periods of extra-time, the teams were still levelled (25-25), meaning that we would have to play for 10 more minutes. The game was full of tension and featured good saves from the goalkeepers, especially on penalties. But in the last 3 minutes of the second period, we made the break: a penalty from Ioannides, followed by two consecutive goals from Hammache and Georgiou and two crucial saves from Szymanski gave us a victory over the Merseysiders (27-29).
Team: Hammache (6), Bussell (1), Despres, Zabaleta (4), Armesto (6), Georgiou (5), Fulton, Ioannides (4), Babinski (3).Goalkeepers : Szymanski (80 min.), Deak
●Sunday, 4 March 2007 (Bellevue Sport Centre, Manchester)
Liverpool 31 - 25 Manchester HC
We were eager to play Liverpool again, after our controversial previous encounter (match to be replayed). We also wanted to show we could challenge Manchester University for the top spot.
Liverpool started on a high tempo, taking an early lead (7th min, 4-1). We had to re-adjust our defence and quickly came back. Most of the rest of the first half saw us being one goal behind (HT, 14-13). We were expecting to have a better second half, but we never managed to make the difference. We were more solid in defence, but missed too many scoring opportunities to take the advantage. The Merseyside team then grew more confident as the game came to an end. They scored several decisive goals in the final minutes, and went back home with a victory (FT, 31-25).
Team: Hammache (5), Bussell (2), Despres (1), Zabaleta (1), Taleb (2), Georgiou (7), Fulton, Ioannides (7), Tamsson.Goalkeepers : Szymanski (45 min.), Deak (15)
●Sunday, 25 February 2007 (Bellevue Sport Centre, Manchester)
Bolton 21 - 30 Manchester HC
Despite having beaten Bolton quite easily earlier in the season, we were expecting to be challenged by them for this second encounter. They had recently seen off Liverpool, one of the strongest side in the North League.
Bolton started in a unusual defence, playing high up, man-marking several players. This left us quite a lot of space on the wings. We quickly took the lead (3-1, 7th min.). Thanks to some top-class saves from Szymanski, we slowly increased our advantage during the first half (6-2, 20th min.). At the whistle, we were leading by 5 goals (15-10).
In the second half, Bolton chose to come back to a more conventional 5-1 defence, problably because of a lack of fitness. This change of tactic didn't have any incidence on the course of the game and we still manage to score (21-15, 50th min.). The rest of the game was the chance for our less experienced players to get some playing time. They did quite well and managed to widen the gap towards the end of the game.
Team: Hammache (8), Armesto (4), Bussell (2), Despres (3), Zabaleta (3), Taleb (2), Georgioy (3), Fulton (1), Ioannides (5).Goalkeepers : Szymanski (30 min.), Deak (30)
They said:
Lukasz Szymanski : “it was an important psychological win but the score doesn’t really show what happened during the game. I wasn’t feeling very good but it worked well. We’ve played quite a good game. Our defence has improved and we managed to get some of our less experienced players to play competitively. Hopefully, if we stay without injuries, we’ll take the tot spot!”
●Sunday, 18 February 2007 (Nottingham)
Manchester HC 10 - 0 Wirral
Just as we arrived in Nottingham, we were told that Wirral would not come to the game. We were automatically awarded a ten goal victory and the 3 points.
They said:
Karim Hammache: "I could not believe my eyes...I spent ages in the Supermarket carefully selecting a variety of crisp bags (barbecue, salt/vinegar, cheddar cheese, prawn etc etc) and all the guys were interested in were the Ready Salted ones!!!"
●Sunday, 21 January 2007 (Bellevue Sport Centre, Manchester)
Manchester HC 21 - 22 Manchester University
This long-awaited game against Manchester University proved to be a close one, the local rivals only scoring the winning goal in the dying seconds.
The match started on a good tempo, but with few goals on both sides. University took a deserved lead during the first half (7-4, 20th min.), but this was more due to our ill-organised defence. At half-time, we were still 3 goals behind (11-8).
The second period started in a disastrous way for us, and the opponents increased quickly their advantage to 8 goals (16-8, 40th min.). From there, the game seemed to be lost. However, we began to display unity within the team, and very slowly reduced the gap (46th min, 17-12). A strong defence combined to a more successful attack, notably with Hammache, saw us coming back (55th min, 19-19), and we even took the lead a minute later. The rest of the match was therefore very tense, each team fearing to let the 3 points slip through their fingers. Unfortunately, Manchester University scored with 3 seconds left on the clock, leaving us extremely disappointed after such a good come-back.
Team: Hammache (11), Armesto (2), Bussell (1), Despres (2), Zabaleta (1), Allayiotis, Georgioy (4), Fulton.Goalkeepers : Szymanski (60 min.), Deak
●Saturday, 9 December 2006 (Sugden Sport Centre, Manchester)
Manchester HC 43 - 21 Nottingham University
Nottingham, the opposition team for our 4th league game, were sitting at the bottom of the table. We were expecting to win, and deservedly did so. We started brightly, solid in defence and efficient in attack. After 10 minutes, a significant gap already stood between the two teams (10-3). Most of the first half saw us slowly increasing this lead and, at the break, we were 12 goals in front (21-9). The second half started just like the first had finished: a Nottingham team unsuccessfully trying to resist a Mancunian side definitely too strong for them (45th, 34-17).The gap widened as the time drew to a close. At the end of the game, the scoreboard was speaking for itself: Manchester 43 – Nottingham 21.
Team : Armesto (6), Bussel (3), Ioannides (6), Hammache (12), Georgioy (4), Despres (7, 2pen), Fulton (5) Goalkeepers: Deak (30 min.), Szymanski(30).
●Sunday, 3 December 2006 (Grange Road West, Birkenhead)
Liverpool 0 – 10 Manchester HC
Liverpool HC being unable to field a team for the game, the Competition Committee awarded Manchester HC a ten-point victory.
●Sunday, 12 November 2006 (Grange Road West, Birkenhead)
Wirral 23 - 27 Manchester HC
For the second match of the season, we were travelling to Wirral. It was the chance for Deak to be on the starting line-up for the first time. Against a 6-men team, we started off quite easily, maintaining the Merseyside players away from away our goal. After 8 minutes, the score was 1-5, and Deak had already shown his potential, making a superb save on a Wirral fast-break. We went on to increase our advantage to 7 goals (23rd min. 4-11, half-time 7-14). Sadly, the second half was spoiled by too many fouls from both sides. Probably more used to this kind of matches, Wirral made the most of it. They slowly reduced the gap, and towards the end of the game, looked as if they could come back (53rd min. 21-24). But we kept our cool and defended our lead until the final whistle (23-27).
Team : Armesto (3/5), Bussel (4/11), Zabaleta (2/3), Hammache (8/11, 3pen), Taleb (1/4), Despres (5/6), Allabistis (4/5) Goalkeepers: Deak (40 min., 11 saves), Garcia (20, 7)
They said:
Karim Hammache: "The environment was not at all what we prepared ourselves for, and it was clear from the start we would have a difficult game on our hands. I'm pleased with the win and all I will remember from this game are the 2 points from the victory".
Jorge Aguila: (on the cup draw 1/4 Final away to Speke or Liverpool): "These local rivals will be difficult to beat as it will be the first time we play against them in the British Cup. With the regional supremacy at stake, we can only expect and hope for a good match which will be difficult for us to win."
●Saturday, 28 October 2006 (Sugden Sport Centre, Manchester)
Manchester HC 36 - 29 Bolton HC
Good start of the season for the Manchester team with a significant victory in one of Greater Manchester's historic local derby, with a good attacking display from the majority of the squad to secure a lead early in the game and keep it for the rest of the match, under the guidance of the experienced Jose Armesto.
They said:
Jose Armesto: "I was very pleased with the way we attacked, moving very fast towards the danger zone and scoring from many players and positions. I feel we will need to improve on our defense though as letting 26 goals in is way too much for me"
