 In-form Team Northumbria kick off their FA Vase campaign at old rivals Crook Town this weekend as favourites to make the second qualifying round. Paul Johnson's men have marched into the top six of the STL Northern League second division on the back of three wins from four. And County Durham stalwarts Crook will have to be at the top of their game to keep their own hopes of FA Vase glory alive. Check out teamnorthumbria.com for the latest report and reaction from this weekend's big football clash. |
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 Team Northumbria finally tackle life in North One East this weekend as the new club rugby season takes centre stage. Steve Bates and head coach Nick Gandy lead a new-look side into action at Carlisle following three successive promotions under Richard Arnold. And former Newcastle Falcons chief Bates admits his squad are facing a trip into the unknown. "I've never been to Carlisle and we don't know what to expect," he said. "But we go there full of confidence and with victory in mind. "We had a good friendly victory last weekend and while there's still a long way to go a lot of good things have happened in the last few weeks." |
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| MATCH MADE IN HOOPS HEAVEN |
 The most successful franchise in British Basketball League history will be based at the country’s newest indoor arena in a move guaranteed to take North East basketball to the next level.
Newcastle Eagles have announced their new home will be Northumbria University’s £30m Sport Central complex.
Fabulous Flournoy’s title-winning roster will play out of the venue’s 3,000-capacity indoor arena – home to this month’s Eurobasket qualifier between Team GB and FYR Macedonia.
And the move further strengthens a partnership which has seen the Eagles work closely with Team Northumbria’s EBL men’s and women’s basketball squads for several seasons.
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| SPORT CENTRAL TO GB SUCCESS |
 Northumbria University’s new Sport Central home was opened by Great Britain men’s basketball team in exhilarating fashion as they beat Macedonia 104-96 in overtime. Northumbria's new home bore witness to a tight and exciting game which needed a stunning Luol Deng three-point shot to send the game into overtime. From then on GB never looked back and dominated the extra period to make it two wins out of two in qualifying for Eurobasket 2011. Head coach Chris Finch said: “Even though we were behind at certain points in the game and gave up our lead I felt we mostly controlled the game.” |
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 With less than 24 hours to go before Team GB look to destroy Macedonia's 100% record, skipper Drew Sullivan has filed his final exclusive diary entry from inside the camp. Back in the North East and determined to bag another win in front of his Newcastle fans the experienced forward can't wait to hit the Sport Central court. And Sulli has been loving every minute of life inside Northumbria's state-of-the-art £30m venue. |
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 Delighted coach Paul Johnson paid tribute to his players' summer of hurt as Team Northumbria sent Birtley packing in this weekend's Northern League opener. The hosts bagged two goals in each half to get their Second Division campaign off to a flier. And Johnson insisted a fantastic 4-0 win fully justified a gruelling pre-season schedule which started in June and took in six warm-up games. "In the past we've started the season slowly and picked up a series of injuries so this summer was all about changing that," he said. "We've worked with Northumbria University's strength and conditioning staff on core strength and injury prevention. "And we played as many games as possible to make sure we were up and running once the real action started. "The lads found it very, very tough but we've only picked up one knock and won our first game 4-0. It's just reward." |
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