Women’s CL summary: Round 2

After Round 2 only three of the 16 teams remain spotless: Ikast, Viborg from Denmark and Hypo from Austria. Most of the matches were very close, especially Group C, where all teams have two points now. Three teams still wait for their first points this season.

Group A
Zvezda Zvenigorod – Kometal Skopje 30:22 (13:8)
Győr – Ikast 25:27 (15:11)

2 500 spectators and coach Evgeni Trefilov were very satisfied as Zvezda showed their old strength against Kometal. In a one-sided match the Russians took their first points and made up for the poor game last week in Ikast. The key to the success was the strong defence of the Russians.

The big surprise of the round was Ikast Brande:with a very strong second half the Danes took both points from Győr. The home team were already leading 15:7 before Ikast, driven by Isabel Blanco and Gro Hammerseng, could catch up to 15:11 at halftime. After the break Győr couldn’t keep the rhythm and Ikast came closer after the 17:11. The Danes equalised at 22:22 and then they took the lead for the first time.

After a minor injury of Győr star Anita Görbicz, the Danes took control and won by two goals. The best Győr players were Görbicz, Bradeanu and Vérten with five goals each and goalkeeper Katalin Pálinger was outstanding in the first half.

Aamodt hit the net six times for Ikast, and goalkeeper Ödergaard secured the points with great saves. Győr coach Csaba Konkoly was only satisfied with the first half:

“After the break we were tired and we made too many mistakes in attack.”

On the other hand, Ikast coach Kenneth Jensen was happy with the second half:

“Our defence was the key to the success in the second half.”

After the match Győr player Aurelia Bradeanu shared a good news: the Romanian player is pregnant and she will not play anymore this season.

Group B
Hypo Niederösterreich - Buducnost 34:27 (17:11)
Elda Prestigio - FCK Copenhagen18:26 (9:17)

Though Hypo coach András Németh received an early red card, Hypo didn’t have problems winning against the Montenegrins. The hosts were in the lead right from the start (5:0) and decided the game early against a weak Buducnost defence.

Buducnost coach Gyula Zsiga said:

“It’s not tragic to lose at Hypo, as we have a lot of inexperienced players.” Hypo are on top with four points, Buducnost are third with two points.

FCK took their first ever victory in the Champions League and it was a very clear one. After leading 6:0 and 14:4 in the 21st minute, the game was decided very early. The Spanish team didn’t have power to stop the strong FCK attacks. The last time Elda seemed to have at least a small chance was at 16:21, but afterwards Nadine Krause, Maja Savic and Emilia Turey were the in superb form in the Danish squad. Each of them scored seven goals. After the close defeat against Hypo, FCK are back on track.

Group C
Lada Togliatti – Oltchim Valcea 34:33 (15:13)
Larvik HK – Podravka Koprivnica 27:26 (12:13)

Everything is equal in Group C after Round 2. Larvik and Lada took their first victories.

Not even the ten goals of Lecusanu were enough for Oltchim Valcea to win in Togliatti.The host was the lucky winner of a tense match. The encounter was decided in the very last minutes after Valcea were leading at half-time and even in mid second half. Eight goals of Bliznova and the seven of Gruzdeva paved the way for the Russian champions in the end.

Also the second match of the group – Larvik against Koprivnica – was a kind of heart breaker for the fans as the game was totally equal for 60 minutes.

“Everything can happen in this group,” Podravka coach Zdrvako Zovko said after his team lost the points in the very last minute.

The match winner of Larvik was their goalkeeper Lene Rantala who saved a 7-meter throw in the 60th minute.

“Thanks to the fans! They gave us a lot of support,” Larvik player Heidi Löke said. She added: “This was a terribly exciting match.”

Podravka had a very hard moment as left winger Zebic was taken to hospital after a head injury. But the Croatians were able to concentrate and they kept the match open until the very end. The best scorers were Riegelhuth with ten goals for Larvik and Tatari with six goals for Koprivnica.

Group D
Viborg HK – 1. FC Nürnberg 39:30 (20:12)
Krim Mercator –Metz Handball 26:31 (11:19)

Viborg are going on in the group without problems. Though the German champion Nürnberg fought hard, they didn’t have a glimpse of a chance in Denmark. The best player of this match was German international Grit Jurack who scored 15 times against the club from her home country. Bojana Popovic hit the net ten times for Viborg and Christina Rohde was Nürnberg’s top scorer with eight goals.

The match was equal until the 14th minute at 10:10. But with an excellent series of 10:2, Viborg went away to 20:12. – For the Danish champions it was no problem that the second half was closer (19:18) as the victory was safe before.

The great saves of goalkeeper Louise Bager helped a lot, just as the “Jurack express” back on track.

“It doesn’t happen every day that you score 15 goals,” Jurack said afterwards.

“It was our best match in attack this season,” VHK coach Jacob Vestergaard added.

For Nürnberg it’ll be hard to collect points this season, but coach Csaba Szűcs doesn’t worry: “We played a good match against one of the best teams in the world and we showed a lot of fighting spirit. This gives me hope for the future.”

French champion Metz celebrated a fantastic victory: they didn’t expect to win so clearly in Ljubljana.

Lenka Kysucanova was the match winner with ten goals for Metz; goalkeeper Camille Ayglon saved 19 shots (including two 7-m shots).

Metz were in the lead for 60 minutes after an equal start. They scored seven goals in a row and took a 14:7 lead, which was the basis of the victory.

In the 48th minute the gap was ten goals for the first time (28:18) and even as Krim came closer, the victory was never in danger.

“This was a great development after the defeat against Viborg,” Metz president Thierry Weizman said. Both opponents now have two points with the advantage for Metz of winning the first direct encounter.