Lions Men record a historic victory after a difficult bout again Peterborough 

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It has now been exactly 196 days since lions’ last game. Despite of a narrow loss against the outgoing champions – University of Oxford in 1/8 final of a ABUHC University Championships, that game has made a notable entry in the pages of our young and short history, and has summarised an excellent season in the best way possible.  This Saturday, after such an extensive break, lions have reunited, returned to the court and shown great determination to win their historic bout against Peterborough 20:19 in a game that can easily be described as a last minute thriller.

The Saturday game was a debut for many new players, with the most notable one being an appearance of a beginner player – Mikołaj Piwko at right wing who has only started his adventure with handball no longer than 4 weeks ago.

For the first half of the game, the Lions were operating ball much quicker than their rivals, nonetheless , their domination could not be documented due to fantastic performance of the opponent’s goalkeeper. As the game progressed, chaos, nerves and frustration came into Lions play, allowing Peterborough to take over the game filed towards the end of first half, which ended with a scoreline of 7:9. The goal difference could, and should be bigger if it wasn’t Lions new goalkeeper – Paul Popa, whose performance was outstanding throughout the game.

Halftime marked a breakthrough for Lions. They regrouped, regained their strength, and in the face of many odds, came victorious over Peterborough.  Despite of fantastic performance from all of the players, there can only be one man of the match. This time this title has to be given to Angel Padilla Sanchez who’s 5 goals and activity in the middle of field during the second  period of second half has tipped the balance in our favour. Iñaki Zarraga and Gisle Bakken  both scored 4 goals each making them tied for our second most effective player.

We are now preparing for our away games against Peterborough, and Norwich HC.

University of Birmingham 20:19 (7:9) Peterborough 

University of Birmingham: Paul Popa, Iñaki Zarraga 4, Paul Meyer 1, Angel Padilla Sanchez 5, Gisle Bakken (Capitan) 4, Mikołaj Piwko, Ashley Boredom (Pivot)

Substitutes: Maciej Trzos 1, Raeshan Tevin Downer 3, Igor Huszak, Andrew Ho 2, Peter Harrison

Injured: Søren Kaae

Coach: Aini Salminen

Man of the match: Angel Padilla Sanchez