Duvnjak and Dahmke rescue Kiel in thrilling rollercoaster

The Group A clash between Kiel and Celje was a tightly fought affair in which the away team give their illustrious hosts a real scare before Domagoj Duvnjak and Rune Dahmke rescued the team from Germany.

GROUP A

THW Kiel (GER) vs RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko (SLO) 35:32 (16:14)

What a treat these two teams produced to keep fans in the Sparkasse Arena on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

The home side briefly seemed to be in cruise control after carving out a 12:8 lead midway through a first half which was littered with turnovers at either end.

The latter stages of the first half were somewhat cagier with the keepers on top and the visitors used this to slash the deficit to two goals by halftime.

Having taken an 18:15 lead shortly after the break, Kiel inexplicably fell apart as Celje produced a 10:3 run which turned the match on its head.

The resilient home side fought back but still looked out for the count despite Dahmke’s breathtaking 360-degree spin to beat Gajic.

It appeared to be nothing more than a flash in the pan after the visitors had held a three-goal advantage (31:28) in the closing stages.

Landin, who looked powerless throughout the second half, then stopped a fast-break sitter when Celje seemed poised to extend their lead and it turned out to be the game’s turning point.

The unstoppable Dahmke and Duvnjak forced the final twist, engineering a 7:1 run which forced the brave Slovenian outfit into submission.

Duvnjak finished with a game-high eight goals from 11 shots for Kiel,  Dahmke and Joan Canellas added six each while line player Rene Toft Hansen chipped in with five.

Blaz Janc had seven for the visitors, who had 10 different scorers, while Lithuanian Povilas Babarskas and Ziga Mlakar netted five apiece.