Kielce do it again

In front of their raucous, yellow-clad supporters, Vive Tauron Kielce celebrated their second VELUX EHF FINAL4 third-place finish in as many appearances.

As in their previous showing in 2013, the Polish champions overcame THW Kiel, 28:26, in the bronze medal match in Cologne on Sunday, thanks in no small part to 14 saves from goalkeeper Slawomir Szmal and nine goals of Karol Bielecki.

For Kielce coach Talant Dujshebaev it was his first-ever triumph against Kiel at any FINAL4 event, while for THW it was their second defeat against a team coached by a Spaniard in two days, after losing Saturday's semi-final against Veszprem and Antonio Carlos Ortega.

"Sure, I am happy that we won this game. But I dreamt to play later this day. Maybe in two or three weeks we are happier and can be proud about this medal," Dujshebaev said.

3-4 placement match: Vive Tauron Kielce (POL) vs. THW Kiel (GER) 28:26 (12:12)

Any expectations that such a 3-4 placement match less than 24 hours after the semi-finals would lack intensity were wide of the mark.

Kielce and Kiel played with passion, energy, speed and power – as if it was a final.

Although Kiel had to replace injured captain Filip Jicha, the Zebras made the better start, leading 5:3 thanks to five saves from goalkeeper Andreas Palicka. At the other end, his counterpart Slawomir Szmal was a tower of Kielce power.

The Polish champions built on their goalkeeper's fine form and went 10 minutes without conceding a goal, allowing them to take a 7:5 lead.

"After the semi-final yesterday it was quite hard to think about today’s match. But after two minutes standing on the court you know that you definitely want to win the match," said Kielce's Tobias Reichmann.

"Of course you don’t want to lose two matches in a FINAL4. We wanted redemption. The FINAL4 is the biggest event in European club handball and we absolutely wanted to win against THW Kiel. And finally we wanted to win for our fantastic fans."

After changing their goalkeeper to Kim Sonne, Kiel found their rhythm again, and a double strike from three-time Champions League winner Henrik Lundström, THW were back on track at 9:9. The teams were then locked at 12 at half-time.

Two efforts from Palicka caught the eye in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as Kielce were forced to replace their goalkeeper with a court player, having one less player on the floor.

But Tomasz Rosinski returned with a flying save, and Szmal was quick enough to get back into his six-metre area - just two examples of the Polish champions' superior will to win.

Kiel had to adapt in the final 20 minutes as, after three suspensions, Domagoj Duvnjak sat out due to a red card - an unhappy end to the VELUX EHF FINAL4 for the Croat one day prior to his 27^th birthday.

But this acted as added motivation for the Zebras, who then regained the edge at 21:20, before an incredible series of saves at both ends from Palicka and Szmal - whose performances were worth the entrance fee alone.

Kiel failed to profit from those saves, however, and Kielce seized control once more – led by their hammer-shooting star Karol Bielecki, who scored his ninth individual goal to give his team the perfect platform to head into the closing stages with a three-goal lead.

But a red card against Piotr Chrapkowski after a foul on Rune Dahmke nearly halted the Kielce winning streak, as the advantage was cut to 26:27 before two more Szmal saves and the final goal from Manuel Strlek secured the win and sparked dancing scenes in the stands.

"Of course it's hard to get motivated for the bornze medal game. Both teams wanted to reach the final. In the end, you try to get energised and give your best performance as a team," said Kiel's Steffen Weinhold.

"I think it was a tight game and in the end, Kielce had a little bit more luck than we did."