Kielce continue winning streak as Dunkerque stun Aalborg

With Sunday’s convincing victory over Kadetten Schaffhausen, KS Vive Tauron Kielce added their seventh win to an unbeaten streak through Group D.  

Talant Dujshebaev’s team put on a spectacular show, overcoming their rivals and leaving fans with a favourable impression in the last home match of 2014 in the VELUX EHF Champions League.

Later on Sunday, Danish outfit Aalborg Handball suffered a shock home defeat against Dunkerque HB Grand Littoral on Sunday after beating them away in the reverse fixture.

In a battle between two teenagers, Dunkerque’s 17-year old right back Tom Pelayo stole the show from Aalborg’s 19-year old Norwegian Sander Sagosen and shone on his debut in Europe’s elite club competition.

VELUX EHF Champions League Group D

KS Vive Tauron Kielce (POL) vs Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) 33:24 (14:12)

Both teams went into the game with a few holes in their ranks. Kadetten were still missing their Slovakian playmaker Peter Kukucka and Polish winger Leszek Starczan.

In Kielce the group of injured keeps growing, most recently joined by Manuel Strlek. The return of line play Piotr Grabarczyk went some way in making up for the absences.

The game started explosively – high-speed play, imprecise passes, many turnovers and fast breaks were the characteristics of the match’s beginning. The Swiss could not find a solution for the host’s strong defence, while Kielce were not using the presents received from their opponents.

"We made silly technical mistakes that enabled our rivals to stay in touch with us," commented Krzysztof Lijewski.

For both teams it was the wings that took the lead, with Manuel Liniger (11 goals total) for Kadetten scoring five goals and Ivan Cupic (nine goals total) taking four for Kielce in the first half.

An impressive fast break from Lijewski in the 16th minute took the score to 8:8 and the draw remained until three minutes before the break. The hosts slowed their pace and played calmly for the last moments of the first half, finishing with a two-goal lead.

After the break the guests could not find a way to decrease Kielce’s lead. Schaffhausen coach Markus Baur decided to take off the goalkeeper and send in a seventh player in attack.

This brave idea was quickly punished by Ivan Cupic, who scored in an empty goal. A moment later Kielce goalkeeper, Marin Sego, added a second easy goal and Kadetten quickly returned to the traditional line-up.

"I advanced in the Top Scorers rank again,” laughed Sego afterwards. "But Ivan stole one opportunity from me, I should have scored twice,” added the Croatian goalkeeper.

From that point Kielce jammed into top gear, scoring five goals in a row to gain a significant stronghold.

Only Liniger, who played an incredible match, seemed not to have lost his faith and keept his team in the game. But it was too little against the leaders of the group, who sealed their victory in style with a nice piece of handball in the end.

"The speed of the game was too much for us. After losing the rhythm and a few goals in a row it was impossible for us to come back," summarised Baur.

After today Kielce continue leading the group on 14 points. Schaffhausen are a point off the Last 16 places with three points.

Aalborg Handball (DEN) vs Dunkerque HB Grand Littoral (FRA) 25:28 (13:15)

Dunkerque hauled themselves back into contention for a Last 16 berth with a precious win in Aalborg on Sunday. Their success was all the more surprising given the Danish outfit won this season’s first meeting between the two teams 26:21 in France.

It was clear from the start Aalborg could take nothing for granted as Dunkerque were a different side this time round, holding their own in the opening exchanges with Hungarian left back Kornel Nagy drilling in several unstoppable shots.

Towering Sagosen responded at the other end, but the visitors were able to nose ahead and even extend their advantage to two goals thanks to their outstanding goalkeeper Vincent Gerard, who unnerved the home side with a barrage of superb saves.

Roared on in a jam-packed Gigantium arena by home fans sporting drums, Aalborg tried to launch a second-half fightback but were undone by the impressive debutant Pelayo, who scored several crucial goals to keep the visitors in the driving seat.

With Theophile Causse also doing plenty of damage and Julian Emonet scoring penalties with ease, Dunkerque carved out a 22:17 lead midway through the second period.

Although the home side managed to cut the deficit to two goals several times, they fell short of turning the match around in the home straight.

Nagy, Causse and Emonet led Dunkerque’s scoreboard with five goals each, and Pelayo and Baptiste Butto chipped in four apiece as the French side produced a balanced team effort. Sagosen and Slundt netted six goals each for Aalborg, who now face a nervous last three rounds in their bid to avoid an early exit.

The result has thrown the finely balanced group wide open, with four teams still in the contest for the two remaining berths in the Last 16.