Close away wins for Sävehof, BSV open round 3

• in an incredible way, Sävehof turned the Nordic derby at Skjern in group II around to take their first main round victory
• in group III, Flensburg and Bjerringbro secured their spots in the knock-out phase after BSV decided their match at Schaffhausen only with their last attack
• the two sides duel in the final round next week, but the German side are two points ahead and won the reverse fixture 38:28
• Dinamo booked their ticket for the knock-out phase in group IV and eliminated their domestic rivals Constanta at the same time

GROUP II

Skjern Håndbold (DEN) vs IK Sävehof (SWE) 33:34 (16:18)

What a thriller in the Scandinavian derby: Hosts Skjern seemed to be on the winners’ way four minutes before the end, leading 33:30, but then Sävehof turned the match around by scoring the last four goals. It was Faroese international Óli Mittún who scored the winner seven seconds before the end, while Mads Bjergfelt missed Skjern’s last chance on the final buzzer. After losing the first two main round matches, including the reverse fixture 29:17, Sävehof are back on track with five points now, one behind Skjern. First Sävehof had full control and led 12:7, but Skjern hit back and levelling at 21:21 in minute 36 and went ahead from 23:22 on, until the final minute.

GROUP III

SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs Vojvodina (SRB) 42:30 (20:16)

For the third consecutive time in the main round, Flensburg were victorious by a gap of 10 or more goals. The German side made it safely through to the knock-out stage. Without their top scorer of the reverse fixture, ex-Flensburg player Petar Djordjic, Vojvodina lacked firepower in attack – except one player: Gregor Ocvirk, who netted 12 times in this goal fest. After only 13 minutes, the gap was already five goals (10:5) for the hosts, who had won 36:26 last week. Backed by team captain Johannes Golla (eight goals) and wing August Pedersen (9), the 2014 EHF Champions League winners extended their lead goal by goal and took their first double-digit advantage at 31:21 in minute 44. Flensburg are on the brink of the quarter-finals, as even a defeat by nine goals against Bjerringbro next week would be enough to win the group.

Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) vs Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (DEN) 33:34 (17:19)

Despite 10 goals of Icelander Odinn Thor Rikhardsson, Kadetten Schaffhausen lost the thriller against Bjerringbro-Silkeborg. One week after the clear 36:30 win on home ground, this time, the Danish side were lucky, though Schaffhausen were ahead only four times in the whole 60 minutes: at 21:20, 22:21, 26:25 and 27:26. Like in the reverse fixture, Thomas Solstad was BSV’s top scorer, this time by nine goals, but experienced Rasmus Lauge scored the decisive goal 50 seconds before the end. Goalkeeper Mikkel Lövqvist secured the win with his 10th and last save against Luka Maros with the final buzzer. The biggest gap in the second half were two goals, and the match was constantly on the edge. Having six points on their account and after winning the aggregate encounter against Kadetten, Bjerringbro have snatched their ticket for the play-offs – but need to beat Flensburg by more than 10 goals to finish the group on top. Kadetten remain on four points, two ahead of their last opponents Vojvodina, which they beat 27:24 on home ground.

GROUP IV

CSM Constanta (ROU) vs Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) 25:33 (11:16)

From the beginning until the end, Dinamo left no doubt about the winner in the all-Romanian duel for the play-off ticket. After their clear 33:23 win in the reverse fixture last week, the team of head coach Xavi Pascual dominated the derby again. Thanks to outstanding Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Cupara, who was on 40% saves before the break and 15 shots in total, and Egyptian shooter Ali Zein on fire, the visitors pulled ahead easily to a 10:5 advantage, and kept this gap until the break. As later, Luka Cindric – top scorer by eight goals - was unstoppable, Constanta could not manage to reduce the gap. Being on four points now, the team from capital secured their play-off spot, while Constanta are out of the race for the next round. Whether Dinamo still can hope to finish on the second rank, will depend on the match between Sporting CP and Füchse Berlin later Tuesday.

main image © 2024 Jens Chr. Nordestgaard / Skjern Håndbold