Pessimism in Larvik

Larvik HK are not used to losing matches. Last week, the Norwegian champions won the domestic league for the 12th time and also in the Champions League the strong team from the Sothern part of the Scandinavian country is used to success. Larvik won the group phase as well as the main round.

The 27-21 away defeat to Viborg HK on Saturday was only the third defeat of Larvik this season, and the biggest so far.

The disappointment of the Larvik players was obvious and their Danish veteran goalkeeper Lene Rantala put it this way:

“This will be extremely difficult for us. Three or four goals would have been possible to level, but six goals are a lot. My dream is to reach a Champions League final one day, but that dream does not seem to ever come true,” the 41 year old keeper told the Danish Radio station, DR.

And when eurohandball.com spoke to Larvik´s coach Karl Erik Bøhn, his tone was also slightly pessimistic.

Eurohandball.com: Your team was equal in the first half, but lost the last 30 minutes by six goals. Why?

Karl Erik Bøhn: We had huge problems in attack, especially with our pivot Heidi Løke who had extremely difficult working conditions, and that was frustrating. Viborg played very well, but we could have done better if our line player had more chances.

Eurohandball.com: Was physical superiority of Viborg the key to the second half?

Karl Erik Bøhn: No, the main reason was the fact that we had 15 minutes around the middle of the second half when we did not have a goalkeeper save and Viborg scored from every attack. In attack we had difficult conditions at the other end of the court. It is always difficult to play good handball in such a situation!

Eurohandball.com: How are you going to catch up with this six goal difference in the return match in the Arena Larvik Saturday?

Karl Erik Bøhn: Six goals are not really a big difference as we have often won by more goals at home. Viborg are a very strong team and they often play well away, so as I see things, they are well on their way to the Final. But I'm sure we can play a good match.

Eurohandball.com: What can you do to close the gap?

Karl Erik Bøhn: One thing we can do is coming back to defence quicker.