2014 finalists Denmark book ticket to Poland
Denmark cruised into a comfortable victory over Belarus in Aarhus, booking their ticket to the EHF EURO 2016 in Poland in the process.
Denmark join Hungary as the first two teams qualified for the final tournament – alongside the automatically-qualified hosts.
Belarus are still locked in a race for second spot on the Group 2 table. In Group 7, Austria also claimed a second victory, over Finland.
Group 2: Denmark vs. Belarus 32:23 (18:11)
The contest was hot from the first whistle in Aarhus on Saturday.
Denmark were on the scoreboard first, playing with speed and counter attacks that were answered with aggressive defence from Belarus.
Belarus’ tactical 3-2-1 defence succeeded in slowing the Danes and forcing some errors, but the hosts maintained an edge that kept them in front by one goal for the first 15 minutes.
As the half progressed Denmark showed why they are a world-class side, pulling gradually further ahead.
Belarus’ defensive system did not seem to phase the Scandinavians. Mikkel Hansen and Casper U. Mortensen in particular contributed goals that helped Denmark hold a three-goal lead at the 25-minute mark (13:10).
By half-time, they had increased that lead to seven.
In the second period Belarus stuck with their 3-2-1 defence, though Denmark now looked quite comfortable attacking against the system.
Belarus managed to decrease the score line a little but ultimately did not really threaten Denmark’s comfortable lead.
With ten minutes left on the clock Denmark were ahead by eight, easily holding on to record the victory.
Hansen and Mortensen finished as the top scorers of the match, with seven goals each.
Group 7: Austria vs. Finland 29:22 (14:14)
Austria claimed a second deserved victory over Finland on Saturday, adding another two points to their tally.
Fans in Bregenz were treated to an exciting match that saw the score equal initially before Austria pulled ahead temporarily midway through the first half.
Their three-goal lead was short-lived however. Minutes later Finland had levelled the score again and it would stay that way for the rest of the first half.
The race for victory was on when the match resumed, and it was Austria who came out of the blocks stronger.
Wasting no time scoring their first goals of the half, Austria edged ahead by two before Finland could respond – and it was this gap that proved costly to Finland in the end.
Austria continued to increase the score line as the period progressed, with the situation looking worse for Finland every minute.
In the end Austria recorded a decisive win to finish their double-header against Finland with two solid victories.
Austria’s Markus Kolar and Finland’s Richard Sundberg (six goals each) were the top scorers.
TEXT:
Courtney Gahan / ts