TV Appenzell Bounces Back from Cup Defeat with Thrilling Victory

In a thrilling top battle, the TV Appenzell men’s 1 team achieved their fifth victory in the fifth championship game on Sunday evening. This means that the Innerrhoders now lead the 1st league table in Group 1 without losing any points and can console themselves for being eliminated from the Mobiliar Handball Cup.

Three seconds before the end, St. Gallen made the mistake that secured Innerrhoder’s 26:25 lead and gave them sole lead in the table. The cheering on the field and among the local fans in the stands – a total of 340 spectators watched the derby – was huge and immediately erased Friday’s cup defeat against TV Möhlin from the “hard drive”. The two teams played a very even game over the entire distance at an excellent first league level, with an ultimately happy winner. Fortuna could have equalized just as well or SG Fides/St. Otmar can be kind.

Almost always at eye level

It took some time for the game to really get going. Fides/St. Otmar acted more skillfully after TVA’s opening goal, exploited coordination problems in the Innerrhoden defense more resolutely and even achieved the feat of taking the lead 6:3 when they were twice outnumbered. But then the Innerrhoders remembered their qualities and moved up to 6:6 at the end of the first quarter of an hour. From then on, neither team was able to pull away decisively. In the course of the first half, the home team was pleased to see the use of pivot Sven Sutter, who had been injured for a long time, and who immediately managed to keep the St. Gallen defense busy. With the score at 13:14 and the Innerrhoder side with a double undernumber, we went into the break.

Jan Bischof’s strong ten minutes

After the restart, the St. Gallen team was unable to take advantage of their superiority. On the contrary: Lukas Manser managed to equalize 14:14 despite being twice outnumbered. Above all, it was TVA goalkeeper Jan Bischof who gave Fides/St. Otmar made life difficult with spectacular saves and didn’t allow a goal for almost ten minutes. When Lucius Graf and Lukas Manser were able to put the TVA in the lead with 18:16 and 19:17 respectively in quick succession, the home crowd hoped for a turnaround towards a stable lead. But the guests successfully resisted, so that from then on the score only moved in steps of one. In this phase, one of Innerrhoder’s strengths became apparent.

Coach Christian Hamm wanted to describe it as “solidarity”: “Because Arie Thür was unfortunate at the end as a two-man on the right, he offered to take over the cover work for Lukas Manser and thus help him take a breather. And Lukas knew how to use this constellation to our advantage.” But Lucius Graf also really got going and scored decisive goals in the final phase, despite the man marking him at times. The fact that Sven Sutter scored the strangest goal three minutes before the end was perhaps the best punchline to this victory.

Cup defeat digested

In the joy of the championship success, Friday’s cup exit faded into the background. The TVA suffered the 20:28 defeat against the NLB representative TV Möhlin after a long, evenly balanced game, when it became obvious that the upper class could throw more weight into the balance. The difference of eight goals was certainly a bit too high. The Innerrhoders were even in the lead at times in the first half and only had to let the Möhlemers overtake them shortly before the break. After the restart, the TVA was able to fight back to 14:15 by the 40th minute before Möhlin finally pulled away.

In the championship, the TVA continues next Sunday away against KJS Schaffhausen, who still have no points. Despite the seemingly clear starting point, caution is advised, especially in such games.