Vipers narrowly edge quarter-finals spot in dramatic draw
Down five goals at the break, after their one-goal win against DVSC Schaefller in the first leg, reigning champions Vipers Kristiansand mounted a sturdy comeback, capped off by a decisive goal from Lois Abbingh with six seconds to go, to seal a 27:27 draw, enough for a place in the quarter-finals.
Right now - it’s an amazing feeling. It was such an intense game to play. DVSC delivered two very good games, and we had to give absolutely everything in order to get through. When you have this much emotion inside, and the whole hall cheers for you in the way they did tonight it really fells amazing to score the goal that secures a QF ticket for us. Right now it doesn’t really matter, but I think we have a lot more to give and we could have done better.
It’s not easy to speak now after this match. I want to congratulate Tomas and his team. They did really well, and I think we did fantastic too. Our goal was to keep it a close match and play our best handball. I think we managed to do that, and I’m very proud of the girls. We came close to delivering a big surprise, but I think we got tired in the second half. We weren't able to convert from the chances we had, and on the other side we simply weren't able to stop their key players. Although we couldn’t make it to the next round I’m very proud of the girls, and I can say that this Champions League campaign was a big and great journey for us. I hope we’ll get the chance to come back next season and do it all over again.
