At 10:17 am Bergische HC was behind against SG Flensburg-Handewitt at the break. The guests had bought the lions after an early 3: 5 deficit and had been superior in all respects in the following minutes. That changed after the restart.
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The home side proved once more morale in the media game in the Klingenhalle, fought their way to three goals, but missed getting close to the sensation again. The Northern Lights scored the decisive hits and thus secured a 30:25 (17:10) success.
The Flensburg team acted from the start with a 5-1 defense variant. The Löwen got along very well at the beginning and had the better start into the game. Goalkeeper Christopher Rudeck (see photo) held twice, while on the other side Arnor Gunnarsson, Fabian Gutbrod and on the counterattack Max Darj worked out a 3-1 lead. Gutbrod and Tomas Babak got two more two-goal advantages, but slowly but surely the top favorite from the far north found the game. Goalkeeper Benjamin Buric made the save, Göran Sögard was the outstanding man offensively.
The Bergisch failed more often – like Darj frei or David Schmidt, who just like Sebastian Damm only hit the post. The home side left many chances, some of them very clear, and now also made mistakes that the guests punished icily. The fact that Gunnarsson then missed a seven-meter throw and that Tom Kare Nikolaisen, who was incredibly accurate this season, threw the crossbar, fitted into the picture of the first half, which seemed to be needed especially in the second half from a Löwen perspective.
The 10:17 deficit at the break represented a high mortgage. But at times the Lions made the impression that it was not too high even against the German champions of 2018 and 2019. Lukas Stutzke turned up a lot on both sides of the field, Tomas Mrkva, who was substituted in for goal in the first half, increased his catch quota noticeably during this phase. Several times, the BHC had the chance to shorten to three goals, but then missed another opportunity offensively or had to accept an annoying goal, although the defense had been successful for a long time.
But the Flensburgers never broke the will of their opponent. The Lions also recovered from further setbacks. When Gunnarsson cut it to 22:25, hopes were high again. Ripped off, Jim Gottfridsson put the SG on 26:22, and the BHC made a faulty throw that brought the guests back into possession and again with five hits in front. Mishaps like this prevented a perfect half, which the Bergisch would have needed to overturn this game.
Lion roar – the voices for the game
Maik Machulla: “That was an extraordinary team performance. It was good for us that we didn’t play in the Champions League on Thursday. So we were able to prepare for the BHC in peace and quiet. Benjamin Buric helped in the first half, and we did We also scored a lot of simple goals. Nevertheless, the advantage was already very high with seven goals. In the second half we then have a bad start. The BHC kept getting three or four goals. That was dangerous. But then there were it was a phase in which we got the ball twice quickly, so that calmness was there again. As a team, we solved that very well today. The 5: 1 cover, which we probably wouldn’t have played if we had, also helped we wouldn’t have been fresh. “
Sebastian Hinze: “Basically we do it the way we want in the second half. But everything really has to work to turn the game around. The mortgage was way too high. That is also my focus: We can’t be seven goals behind go into the break. If we go into the dressing room at minus three or four, there might still be something in it, but it was a huge pack for us. In principle, we had good chances in the first half, but we couldn’t get them in. Outnumbered we get four balls from six meters, but none of them are in. We then got into a hectic rush and didn’t deal with the failures in this phase well. That shouldn’t affect us that way. Flensburg takes advantage of it mercilessly Cover is the basic idea, but it was often similar to attack. We didn’t win the decisive last duel, although we already had Flensburg in the passive game. “
Bergischer HC -SG Flensburg-Handewitt 25:30 (13:17)
Bergischer HC: Rudeck, Mrkva -Boomhouwer (5/2), Damm, Gutbrod (4), Stutzke (4), Fontaine, Babak (1), Szücs (1), Darj (2), Nikolaisen (1), Bergner, Schmidt (1), Majdzinski (1), Johannsson, Gunnarsson (5/1). Trainer: Sebastian Hinze
SG Flensburg-Handewitt: Buric, Bergerud -Hald, Svan (2), Wanne (7), Jöndal, Heinl, Mensah (6), Sögard (6), Gottfridsson (4), Holpert, Semper (2), Sikosek, Röd (3), Kirschberger. Coach: Maik Machulla
Referees: Marcus Hurst and Mirko Krag
Seven meters: 3/5 -0/1 Time penalties: 3 -4 Majdzinski, Damm, Schmidt -Gottfridsson (2), Heinl, Sögard
Course of the game: 3: 2 (5th), 5: 3 (10th), 6: 8 (15th), 7:11 (20th), 9:12 (25th), 10:17 (30th), 13:18 (35th), 16:21 (40th), 20:24 (45th), 22:25 (50th), 24:28 (55th), 25:30 (60th).
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