Flensburg at least second after last second draw

Group A of the VELUX EHF Champions League season 2012/13 will go into history as the “group of draws”: The 29:29 (14:13) of Chekhovskie Medvedi against SG Flensburg-Handewitt was already draw number six – and the fourth equal result for the Russians.

But this point was not enough for Medvedi, as they missed the top two positions in this Group. Thanks to the equalizer of Anders Eggert 15 seconds before the end, Flensburg did not only catch-up an intermediate five goals backlog, but will finish at least on second position, one point ahead of the Russians.

If HSV Hamburg will lose their match against Montpellier on Saturday, Flensburg would even finish first – but already before this encounter it is confirmed that both German teams will top this group – and that there will be no all-German duel in the Last 16, as all four Bundesliga participants either finish first or second in the four groups.

Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS) vs. SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 29:29 (14:13)

After 45 minutes nobody could expect a tie, but in the end, Chekhovskie Medvedi showed nerves like they did on Sunday at Montpellier, when they gave a six goal lead from their hands. Against Flensburg the Russian were clearly dominant in the middle of the second half, but failed to maintain the lead until the end of the match again.

After a strong start (5:2) Flensburg lost their rhythm completely and could not cope anymore with the solid rock defence of Medvedi including their “sweeper” Timur Dibirov, who got a huge number of steals and finally was top scorer of the match by eight goals. The Germans caused a big number of turnovers (16 in 60 minutes) and missed passes, and Medvedi took the profit – first by three straight goals to 5:5, later on by their first lead at 13:12, scored by unstoppable Mikhail Chipurin.

Both goalkeepers – Mattias Andersson (Flensburg) and Richard Štochl (Medvedi) - showed good performances, and on Russian side Dibirov was cold as ice in counter-attacks, while the Flensburg defence had enormous problems to stop former Bundesliga player Sergj Shelmenko before the break. Two seconds before the halftime whistle Dibirov’s fourth goal meant the 14:13 lead for the hosts.

And the Germans seemed to be totally weakened after their travelling problems – as Hamburg airport was closed due a strike, they had to go to Berlin by bus overnight to fly from Moscow from there. The downswing continued, as Medvedi continued with their well-known tactics. After four straight goals from 19:18 to 23:18 and Flensburg being completely on the floor, everybody could expect a clear win.

But a time-out of coach Ljubomir Vranjes woke up the visitors, who reduced the gap goal by goal. In minute 49 it was 25:23 and four minutes later at 26:25 the distance had melted to only one goal. By forging ahead to 28:25, Medvedi showed their last sign of life. After several time-outs in the dying minute, Anders Eggert netted for the 29:29 15 seconds before the end. And as Sergej Gorbok missed the final Medvedi shot, their fate was sealed.