Randers win Danish derby

The first leg of the Women’s EHF Cup Quarter-finals ended with SG BBM Bietigheim making a step towards the semi-finals by beating Kuban with a seven-goal difference (33:26), while Randers defeated NFH - Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub 27:24 in the Danish derby.

•    Just like their country-fellows from Metzingen, Germany’s Bietigheim win their first leg of the EHF Cup Quarter-finals
•    Randers beat NFH at home in the Danish battle
•    Bietigheim’s Susann Müller and NFH’s Nathalie Hagman are top scorers of the day with eight goals each

Women’s EHF Cup Quarter-Finals
SG BBM Bietigheim (GER) vs Kuban (RUS) 33:26 (16:13)

Reaching the quarter-finals was already a milestone for Bietigheim in their maiden European season. However, the ambitious Bundesliga leaders are aiming to go even further – and a seven-goal home win against the strong Kuban side gives them quite an edge in the hunt for a semi-final spot.

The hosts seized the initiative early in the game and were ahead by two or three goals throughout the first half, which resulted in their 16:13 lead at the break.

The second half followed the same scenario, as Bietigheim took the score from 22:20 to 28:20, and went on to clinch a convincing victory.

Kuban have had a frustrating week – following a defeat against Rostov-Don in the Russian league, they had another setback away from home, this time in Germany. Evgeni Trefilov’s team looked shaky and made too many mistakes, which were punished by the hosts on Sunday.

A seven-goal cushion makes Bietigheim the favourites ahead of the second leg in Krasnodar, but the high quality of Kuban players hints that the fight is not yet over.

Randers HK (DEN) vs NFH - Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub (DEN) 27:24 (15:14)

Both Danish teams know each other perfectly well – in this season alone they have faced each other four times already.

In their domestic competitions, Randers and NFH claimed one victory each, while another meeting ended in a draw. Therefore, their clash in the Women’s EHF Cup promised another tight battle.

That proved true quickly as Randers had an edge through the first half but were unable to create a solid gap. NFH drew level a few times, before Camilla Dalby’s shot 24 seconds from half-time put the hosts in the lead at 15:14.

Nothing really changed until the 47th minute when NFH finally managed to seize the lead at 21:20. But a time-out from Randers helped the home team regroup, and they followed the pause with a 7:2 run during the next 10 minutes to win by three.

"We managed to keep NFH from scoring on fast breaks, and our defence was strong. [Jovana] Risovic played a great match. Hopefully we can finish the work next Sunday," said Dalby after the match.

Nothing is yet clear in this pairing, and the return leg in Nykøbing next weekend promises to be exciting and unpredictable, just as a real derby should be.