Put your handbags away ladies, these women know how to play ball

World champions Russia were not going to be an easy test for the Great Britain team who are still building a team for the Olympics. This match however seemed out of their reach and Russia came out on top 24-16, but that isn’t to say Great Britain were a push over.

Great Britain started the scoring off after Sarah Hargreaves had made two magnificent saves, something that was repeated throughout the whole game. Kathryn Fudge was able to squeeze through a tight gap to get the game up and running around 3 minutes in. After this though Great Britain were struggling to cope with Russia’s quick counter attacks where they would catch the GB defence off guard and eventually took a 4-1 lead. Then Lyn Byl came into play and was able to launch herself into the box to throw a devastating double either side of another Russia goal making it 3-5.

Great Britain were still struggling to get any pace to their attack with a repetitive sequence of passes going from left wing to centre to right wing and back and forth without any penetration, but when the big Russian, Anna Sen, was sent to the bench for 2 minutes for a foul on Byl, Great Britain were able to unleash a flow of attacks where they were able to battle it back to 5-6. When Anna Sen came back into play Russia looked a constant threat again eventually taking a lead of 8-5, but it could have been a lot worse if it weren’t for that woman between the sticks, Sarah Hargreaves. Countless saves including a remarkable reflex save that denied Russia. Sarah Hargeaves was stopping Russia run away with the game and her saves managed to install some belief into the players and they were battling back to make it 7-8, somehow still holding onto the World champions after a third of the game.

The last 10 minutes of the first half however proved to be too much for the hosts and by the interval were pegged back 10-14. The first half showed promising signs though with Kathryn Fudge, Lyn Byl, the captain Lynn McCafferty and of course Sarah Hargreaves all impressing for the home side. But it was Russia’s devastating speed in which they would break, as soon as Great Britain would score they would be back on them straight away not letting them ease up and by the end of the half you could see it was tiring the GB girls out and let their good first 20 minute form slip, but a quick-fire double from Holly Lam-Moores just before the break proved promising signs for the second half.

Unfortunately the promising signs were a distant memory 7 minutes in as Russia had built a 7 point lead making it 17-10. Kathryn Fudge was having a frustrating spell where the Russian between the sticks equalled Sarah’s heroics in goal saving 3 shots from Kathryn Fudge inside 10 minutes. But back to her heroics, Sarah was brave in taking a hard whack in the face after a hard shot, but showing her grit and determination to continue her fine form she got up and just second’s later Russia were awarded a penalty and she saved it sending the fans into raptures. The trio of Emiliia Turei, Anna Sen and Liudmila Bodnieva were a constant threat throughout with the latter two players towering over all the Great Britain players at 180-185cm and Emiliia Turei a tricky customer to handle.

After 50 minutes had gone Russia were in full control taking full advantage of a tiring Great Britain side that had put up a great fight, but they were playing the World champions. And they were proving their credentials when they increased their lead to 22-13 and without the master class in goal by Sarah Hargreaves it could have easily turned into an embarrassing afternoon. The strength in the Russian side was finally showing when Captain Lynn McCafferty was bundled over by Anna Sen and despite getting back up she had to go off and that was her game finished and with that injury almost ended Great Britain’s chances when the score was 24-15 to Russia with 5 minutes to go. Just like the first half Great Britain were able to snatch a late goal with a sweet move but the game finished 16-24 to the reigning World Champions, but for a team that has only been formed for 5 years it was not bad going at all.

I hadn’t known much about Handball as a sport as it is not a relatively big sport in England like it is in Germany, Denmark and Russia respectively but after watching the fast-paced action today and determination shown by the Great Britain side, the ever-growing fan base of the sport in the UK gained one extra fan. What I liked most about the after-match was the fact you could see the girls were pleased with the performance, and so they should be. The London 2012 Olympics is just what Great British Handball needs to launch the sport to new heights of popularity and for people who may be thinking they lost out getting handball tickets at the Olympics, I for one am jealous.

North London has seen a change in the top side... will Manchester soon follow suit?

The North London derby two weeks ago was the first time Tottenham were the real favourites to win the derby, and they did not disappoint winning 2-1. But is this Sunday the first time Manchester City really look like being favourites to beat the countries top side?

Manchester United and Manchester City have ruled the first few months of the season, with City just edging it and being top of the pile... for now. But Manchester United have played Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool and have only dropped two points recently against Liverpool whereas Manchester City have only played Tottenham out of the top sides so far, where they did win 5-1.

So this Sunday is City's first real test of title credentials for this year, although it comes pretty early in the season you could claim it as a title decider in the mindset of each Manchester club. Neither has taken Europe by storm this year with City only gaining their first win out of three thanks to a stoppage time winner against Villareal this week, and Manchester United also gaining their first win this week against Galati with Rooney scoring two penalties to decide it. So Europe hasn't seen the threat of Manchester yet, but the Premier League definitely has.

Manchester City have managed 27 league goals this year so far in just 8 games and not to far behind them United have scored 25, 14 more than Newcastle and Liverpool who sit 4th and 5th respectively. Its not just the forwards in both sides that have impressed, the back line of each team have only conceded six goals each this term so far, matched only by Newcastle.

There have been massive improvements in the Manchester City camp, despite the Tevez saga. Sergio Aguero has been a breathe of fresh air not just to Manchester City, but to the Premier League, and we also starting to see a much happier and much more passionate Roberto Mancini, something fans all over the country are liking... despite Manchester United of course. Most will say they don't like it because they will say 'United are the better side...' but City fans will argue United don't like it because they are getting scared of their noisy neighbours.

We will have to wait until Sunday to see whether Manchester City will be able to silence the 'noisy neighbours' tag or Manchester United will be showing they are a hard horse to topple, all we know is this derby is getting more and more exciting each year and this weekend will be the next big one.