Easy dress rehearsal for Larvik

Larvik HK did not have to sweat much over their dress rehearsal ahead of the second leg of the Women's EHF Champions League Final against Győri Audi ETO KC.

Larvik won 30:23 at home against Tertnes in the second leg of the semi-finals in the Norwegian play-offs, and as Norwegian champions and league winners had won the first match away as big as 40:20, there was really not a lot of excitement ahead of the return match, through which Larvik qualified for the final against Byåsen with a total win of 70:43.

Actually, the biggest challenge for the players of both teams was the fact that the match had to be postponed for two hours, as a strike among airline personnel forced Tertnes to drive to Larvik by bus from Bergen instead of flying as planned.

“Respect to the crowd who held out while Tertnes drove over the mountain to get here. We really wanted to make a good performance after the crowd had been so patient and waited for Tertnes to arrive for the match. It is great that they hold out and wait that for a match which does not really have a lot of importance,” backcourt player Karoline Dyhre Breivang told Larvik's website.

The strike among the cabin crew in a Norwegian airline company is also influencing the Larvik delegation´s trip to Hungary for the second leg of the EHF Champions League final Sunday. The Norwegians have had to split their delegation into two groups in order to make it.

Out of the 27 persons, of which the Larvik delegation consists all together, nine left already Thursday morning, and the rest followed Thursday evening.

“Fortunately we have an experienced squad who have been through a lot, when it comes to travelling in Europe, so it does not stress us that much. Győr have shown understanding for our problem and have promised to solve the transport task inside Hungary by sending buses to pick up both groups,” Larvik's head coach Ole Gustav Gjekstad explained.

The second leg of the final, in which Győr are leading 24:21 after the first leg, throws off on Saturday at 15.15 local time in the Veszprém Aréna.

Further information
Follow the match live and free of charge on ehftv.com and on the dedicated twitter channel @ehfcl.