On 25th October the GB Squad came together in Wolverhampton for a three day preparation camp. The aim was to get ourselves familiar with tactical information before our trip to Luxembourg. The camp got off to a bad start when we found out Head Coach Dragan Djukic would not be joining us until we reached Luxembourg. It was then up to assistant Coach Bill Ballie to ensure we made the most of our time together before the tournament began.
Despite the setback, everybody was very focused on the task at hand and unlike the previous camp in France back in August everybody seemed a little more relaxed and the team spirit appeared to be back to how it should have been. This was probably due to most of the squad being back in a competitive training environment and the immediate future was not as bleak as it appeared to be in France!
The mood in the camp was good and this was important as we went in to our first match of the tournament against hosts Luxembourg. Two years previous, an inexperienced England side lost by 17 goals to this team so we knew it wasn’t going to be easy with some of our players being present then. I was disappointed to be left on the bench for the game considering the hard work I and progress I had made since the France Camp. I eventually got a chance to show this improvement as I replaced Parker after around 25 minutes with us trailing by three goals.
I was determined to put in a good performance and also try to inspire the other players as we found ourselves up against it. After clawing our way back into the game we found ourselves again down by three goals in the closing stages but fought our way back and had a lead of 32-30 with just three minutes left on the clock. Unfortunately our lack of experience in big matches allowed Luxembourg to fight back themselves and with almost the last shot of the game they levelled to 32-32 and so the spoils were shared.
Having been so close to tasting victory, the team took this draw almost as a loss. The heads were down immediately and you could see the disappointment on everyone’s faces. Our head coach however had a different view on the match and he was very pleased with our character and the chances we created. On another day we could have won this game by a fair margin and we were now able to compete with teams at this level. We would have the chance to improve on this performance against a tough Belgian side the next day.
The mood soon picked up again and we were ready to prove to ourselves and the rest of the handball community that our performance against Luxembourg was not a ‘one-off’. The Luxembourg press had called the result an embarrassment and this showed that these teams or at least the opinion of the press did not expect us to be on the same level. I kept my place in goal, perhaps the first time I had started a match for GB on merit after my strong performance the day before. I was however given a two minute suspension early on. We were down 1-0 when I went off and I back on after around 15 minutes and we were trailing again by three. I got back into the game immediately and made a few crucial saves and at half-time we were up by one although it should have been two, our inexperience once again allowing Belgium to score a cheap goal in the final seconds of the half. After Belgium came at us in the second half, our 3-2-1 defence appeared to be cracking and we came back to a 6-0 formation to try to ‘plug the gaps’. It was tough for me as I prefer a 3-2-1 in front of me but the boys were doing a good job with some good blocking and interceptions. We were still on the back foot and were down by two with 15 minutes left. The coach decided to replace me with newcomer Ciaran Pasqual Larkin and then a few minutes later Parker took his place back in the goal. These changes had made no impact on the game and we went on to lose by two. A superb defensive effort, but a below par display from the goalkeepers and some missed chances at the other end allowed Belgium to take the win 25-23.
So we had proved to ourselves if no-one else that we had what it takes to at least compete with the likes of these teams. We went into the third and final match tired and with some players carrying a few injuries but we knew that another decent performance was needed not to undo all the hard work of the previous two matches. Mulhouse had put in some good performances narrowly losing out to Belgium and beating Luxembourg so we knew we would be there or thereabouts.
Jesper started the match in goal and did a superb job despite our defence not replicating the solid performance of the day before. We went on to lose by five goals, 26-21; a close contest and one which again we should have done better in.
Overall, the three matches were a great success. The hard work and improvement of the team and also our ability to now perform on an international stage had been highlighted. The season is currently in its early stages and I believe our inexperienced squad will improve even more over the next month or so with more match time under our belts. This will lead nicely into the December/January preparation camps and ultimately our World Championship qualifiers in Finland at the end of January where we will face Finland, Bosnia and Romania. A huge task for a team currently at our stage of development however we will have the possibility for the majority of the squad to be together for three weeks prior to the qualification. This coupled with the early season creases being ironed out before Christmas will hopefully result in more improvement as a team and more good performances on the court.
