Favourites in trouble on first day of the main round

After not having lost a single point in the group phase, Györi AUD ETO lost their first point in their current Champions League campaign, as the reigning champions started the main round by drawing 23:23 at home against 2012 champions Buducnost.

In Ikast, Swedish champions IK Sävehof were heading for a surprising away win against FC Midtjylland for a long time, but at the end the Danish champions managed to save a narrow 25:24 win.

Larvik might not exactly be favourites away against RK Krim Mercator, but considering that fact that Krim have lost four players since autumn, a home win as  clear as 24:18 still appeared as a bit of a surprise.

Group 1:

FC Midtjylland (DEN) vs IK Sävehof (SWE) 25:24 (12:14)

One detail in particular will be remembered from the drama in Ikast Brande Arena, as FC Midtjylland opened Group 1 of the main round with a narrow 25:24 home win against IK Sävehof.

After 20 minutes, Midtjylland´s right wing Trine Østergaard showed that she may also have a great future as goalkeeper ahead of her.

While being one player less, the home team had substituted their Sabine Englert goalkeeper by an extra field player, and Østergaard, who was carrying the goalkeeper shirt, missed a shot from the right wing.

As there was no time to get Englert back in goal, Østergaard had to rush home in goal, where she made a brilliant save from Sävehof´s left wing Louise Sand.

At this point, a tactically clever Sävehof team was leading 10:7, and for great parts of the match, the visitors had the upper hand and were in the lead, several times even with three goals.

The score was kept low throughout the 60 minutes due to excellent goalkeeper performances by former German international Sabine Englert by Midtjylland and Filippa Idehn in the Sävehof goal.

Sävehof were the better team for the majority of the match and were leading with one to three goals until the last 10 minutes, when the 2,025 spectators finally saw the home team take control and take the lead.

Still, the match was not decided until the very last minute, when left wing Fie Woller made it 25:24 for the hosts, after which the guests were unable to create a scoring opportunity before the final whistle.

“There was a lot of stress on us, and the last minute was very hectic,” FC Midtjylland's right wing Trine Østergaard said after the match.

“We agreed to give an extra effort in the last 10 minutes, as it was crucial for us to get the two points,” Østergaard added.

“Usually, keeping our opponents on 25 goals ought to be enough to win, but today it was not,” left back Jamina Roberts from Sävehof said.

Group 2:

Györi AUDI ETO (HUN) vs. Buducnost (MNE) 23:23 (9:13)

Györ were the only team who did not lose a single point in the group phase back in the autumn.

When Group 2 of the main round started, though, the reigning Champions League winners lost their first point of the season through the 23:23 draw at home against Buducnost.

The Buducnost players celebrated the draw like a win after the final whistle, but actually the Montenegrins were closer to the win during most of the game than the Hungarian favourites.

After Györ had been up by two goals early the match, Buducnost took over the initiative, partly due to tactical cleverness and fighting spirit, but also because of Clara Woltering.

The German international in the Buducnost goal definitely had the upper hand compared to her colleague Katrine Lunde Haraldsen in the other goal circle.
Haraldsen did not have a bad day, but Woltering simply got the better of the Norwegian international and her teammates.

Those were the reasons why Buducnot did not only manage to catch up with the hosts´ early two goal lead, but also to take the lead themselves and increase it to no less than four goals at half time.

As the second half progressed, the mood improved among the 3000 spectators, as Györ seemed to be turning the tables.

They managed to catch up with the four goal deficit and also to take their first lead for more than half an hour at 19:18, but once again Woltering and Buducnost came back and got up by two at 22:20 and by one at 23:22 with one minute to go.

In the last seconds, though, the home team managed to secure a point which will probably not be satisfactory to their ambitions in the tournament, though.

RK Krim Mecator (SLO) vs Larvik (NOR) 24:18 (12:10)

Larvik had good memories from their latest visit to Ljubljana. That was the second leg of the semi-final of the 2012/13 EHF Champions League, where the Norwegians secured their access to the final through a 27:19 against Krim.

This Saturday night, the odds did not exactly seem to have turned to the worse for Larvik, as Krim had said goodbye to no less than four players compared the team which secured the Slovenians their main round berth in the autumn.

Still, Krim were more or less dominating from beginning till end this time. The hosts were up 3:0, before Nora Mørk managed to score Larvik's first goal after eight minutes and 20 seconds, and the home team was in the lead during the entire match.

The visitors had particular problems with Sergeja Stefanisin in the Krim goal, and even though Cecilie Leganger did extremely well, Stefanisin was simply outstanding, and for parts of the match she was practically impossible to overcome for last season´s finalists.

While Krim could put their faith in Stefanisin in goal, they could rely just as much on Andrea Penezic in the attack. Not only was the Croatian international a threat herself with her fine and dangerous shots – her teammates also benefitted from her many assists – and when Larvik tried with man-to-man defence against her, Krim proved that they had other players who could take over.

Therefore the clear home win never really got in danger.