Mogensen and Andersson lead Flensburg to clear win

SG Flensburg-Handewitt have reclaimed third position in Group B thanks to a result far removed from the opening round encounter with KIF Kolding Kobenhavn. Sunday’s defeat marked Kolding's first in the current VELUX EHF Champions League season.

The Danish champions had their chances in the second half, but missed too many opportunities against Mattias Andersson who had another superb match in the Flensburg goal.

VELUX EHF Champions League Group B

SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) vs KIF Kolding Kobenhavn (DEN) 27:20 (15:10)

Playmaker Thomas Mogensen (Flensburg’s highest scorer with seven goals) and goalkeeper Andersson were the outstanding players in Flensburg’s significant victory.

Mogensen was brilliant, not only at organising Flensburg’s attack, but as a threat himself. The 31-year-old former Danish international was particularly good at breaking through the Kolding defence, but his shots from the distance also had bite.

In goal, 36-year-old Mattias Andersson avenged the humiliating experience of the German side’s 35:21 defeat in the first match against Kolding.

Around 1,700 among the more than 6,000 spectators in the Flens-Arena were from Denmark, and even though they may not have all supported Kolding, the visitors' fans could be clearly heard constantly throughout the match.

The Kolding fans did not have much to celebrate at the start though. Lukas Karlsson gave Kolding a 1:0 lead, but after that the guests did not score for eight minutes, and Flensburg made use of this to take a 6:1 lead.

The Flensburg defence had rather easy working conditions against the slow pace of Kolding, and the home team managed to increase their lead to six goals at 10:4 and 11:5 before the visitors increased their pace in defence as well as attack. This allowed the Danish champions to reduce the distance to three goals, but Flensburg still finished the half better and were five up at half-time.

From the start of the second half, Kolding tried a 5-1 formation in defence with Torsten Laen and Simon Jensen taking turns at pushing forward. This was a success at first, and as the guests also improved their attacking play, they managed to come back within three goals.

During this phase, right back Kim Andersson was a particular asset. His shots and assists were extremely high class. However, when Flensburg also moved forward in their defence, even Andersson started to make mistakes and eventually the home team took away a seven-goal win.

The two points sees the reigning champions move ahead of Plock back into third position, while KIF are now three points adrift of first placed Barcelona.