Preparations have been underway at HBW Balingen-Weilstetten for a good month. Lots of new players, a new coach – the Swabians have also started a new beginning of sorts. So far, those in charge are quite satisfied.
Strong opponent
After the fans in the hall had watched the Olympic final between Germany and Denmark on Sunday, the Swabians then took to the court themselves. In the second game of the preparation, the Swiss first division team Pfadi Winterthur was waiting.
For the guests, the duel with the “Gauls” was the end of a demanding week. The scouts spent most of it in Tyrol and completed a six-day training camp in Imst.
Mixed start
Four new players were in the starting line-up for HBW: Mateusz Kornecki started in goal, Max Santos, Sascha Pfattheicher and Robert Timmermeister in the field alongside Jerome Müller, Tim Grüner and Elias Huber.
Winterthur did not initially show the strain of the past few days and quickly took the lead. Timmermeister was able to equalize the first Pfadi goal. After the guests scored the next goal, however, Santos let the ball be stolen.
Further mistakes followed – on both sides. Pfattheicher finally equalized at 2:2 (3rd minute). However, Pfadi took the lead again, consistently exploiting Balingen’s mistakes. Dominik Ruh made it 2:5 (7th). Pfattheicher again ended the home team’s brief goal drought, but Winterthur kept the pressure on. Important for morale: a saved seven-meter shot by Kornecki.
Second formation does it better
With the score at 3:7, Flohr took the first time-out early on (11th minute), but continued to rely on the same personnel. Pfattheicher again reduced the deficit with a seven-meter throw, but Tim Rellstab immediately put Pfadi back up to four when they were outnumbered. “We slept through the initial phase. That shouldn’t happen to us,” Flohr said angrily.
At first it was up to former Stuttgart player Pfattheicher to score the goals for HBW (6:9/15th). Winterthur took advantage of a time penalty against Timmermeister to extend their lead. Flohr then changed a large part of the personnel, bringing in new signing Daniel Blomgren as well as Tobias Heinzelmann, Daniel Ingason and Csaba Leimeter. The substitute formation was also unlucky in attack at first, but made a better impression in defense.
HBW is catching up
Winterthur managed to maintain its lead without much effort and was leading 12:7 after just over 20 minutes. Despite being outnumbered, HBW showed signs of life with a brace from Blomgren and Heinzelmann, forcing Pfadi coach Goran Cvetkovic to take a time-out.
But it was HBW’s turn. After a Kornecki save, Leimeter brought the score back to 13:14/27. And after Pfadi lost the ball, it was Blomgren who equalized shortly before halftime. The score was tied at 15:15 as the teams headed to the dressing rooms.
“Gauls” take the lead
At the start of the second half, the two remaining new signings, Tim Matthes and Benedek Nagy, also had their turn. The keeper had to save the Swiss team’s next goal straight away – but a Fügel hat-trick then brought the first two-goal lead for HBW (18:16/35.).
Winterthur now had a harder time than in the first round, but Balingen-Weilstetten was unable to really pull away in this phase. They went into the final quarter of an hour with a narrow 22:20 lead. During this period, both teams were clearly feeling the strain of their preparation, and there were still mistakes on both sides. The Swabians did better in the final spurt, however, winning 29:25.
“We saw today that too many coordination issues are not yet where we want them to be,” admitted Flohr after the game. “You can see that the team is going through a major transition. Nevertheless, it was a good test that helped us a lot.”
Next appearance at the S-Cup
The Swabians are now expected to complete five training sessions before a real tough test awaits them at the weekend. The Flohr ensemble will be in action at the S-Cup in Altensteig. The “Gauls” will play their first match at the traditional tournament on Friday (9 p.m.) against TSV St. Otmar St. Gallen.
