It was drizzling lightly over the Nürnberger Versicherung Arena on Saturday evening, a few hours before St. Nicholas Day, before the second Advent. Under normal circumstances, this could have been the harbinger of a beautiful handball festival as this venue has so often been able to accommodate. Especially since with the SC DHfK Leipzig a favorite opponent stood in the way of HC Erlangen: HCE had won all first division home games against the Saxons before. But instead of loud fans with red bobble hats – apart from the hardworking construction workers – only numerous empty jerseys populated the stands of the arena. There was hardly any party atmosphere, but handball was still played.
However, without the Swedish backcourt shooter Simon Jeppsson, whose name was somewhat surprisingly not on the registration form of HC Erlangen. Less surprisingly, the names of Nico Büdel (torn ligament) and Nikolai Link (shoulder problems) were missing. Steffen Fäth and the young Benedikt Kellner shared the positions of half-left and playmaker with the hosts from the start. And after two avoidable defeats, they had noticeably planned a lot.
Go then! HC Erlangen convinces and wins against Leipzig
With an impressive increase in performance compared to the last two weeks, HC Erlangen won the home game against SC DHfK Lepizig. Despite the absence of Simon Jeppsson and an injury to Steffen Fäth, the hosts, who looked like crazy, dominated their opponents and deservedly won with 30:22.
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Grabbing cover, quick-legged and brave in the game, the HCE worked their way to a three-goal lead after eleven and a half minutes (7: 4). Noticeable until then: Fäth with three hits. The Erlanger managed to avoid the “little things” mentioned by their coach Michael Haaß before the game, which had recently cost points. They hardly made any mistakes or gave no free throws.
Because the opponent from Leipzig came to Franconia not only with the tailwind of a won east duel against SC Magdeburg, but also with an unbelievably fixed changeover game, the game remained open, fast, exciting. Also had to be treated as Fäth and Tarek Marschall confidently represented him. The goal at 15:11 in the meantime was symbolic of the concentrated appearance before the break: Goalkeeper Klemen Ferlin played a centimeter-accurate pass over the whole place into the hands of Christopher Bissel, who failed on the guest keeper, but Hampus Olsson used the rebound with presence of mind. Erlangen led the break with 16:12.
But the HCE has not only had good experiences with such tours: Against Balingen, the men from Haaß gave away a six-goal lead, against Lemgo there were four goals. So they were warned and had to do without Fäth completely, who hobbled himself onto the bench before the start of the second section.
That evening, however, did not impress the hosts either. They picked up where they left off before the break. After 37 minutes, Marschall rose naturally into the air and torched the ball from ten meters into the mesh at 21:15. Time out in Leipzig.
But that didn’t get the Saxons back on track either, it was the evening of HC Erlangen. From Klemen Ferlin, who made Leipzig desperate with his parades after the break, from Florian von Gruchalla, who entered the floor almost only for his five seven-meter goals, from Sebastian Firnhaber, who fought like a bear in the back and as cool as a dog’s nose in the front stayed. And and and. Erlangen won with 30:22.
What a festival that would have been.
HC Erlangen: von Gruchalla (5), Firnhaber (4), Olsson (4), Fäth (3), Kellner (3), Marschall (3), Bissel (2), Ivic (2), Metzner (2), Overby (1) , Sellin, Schäffer, Jaeger, Mosindi; Ferlin, Ziemer.
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