18 goals from the Mork twins as Larvik bounce back

The twin sisters - Nora and Thea Mork were the influential pair in the match as Larvik avenged their 27:21 opening defeat against Rostov-Don by beating HCM Baia Mare 31:29 in Romania.

HCM Baia Mare (ROU) vs Larvik (NOR) 29:31 (14:19)

Before the match, Larvik coach Tor Odvar Moen expressed a firm belief in his team´s ability to win in Baia Mare and his confidence in his players turned out to be justified.

Despite the absence of key players Lin-Kristin Riegelhuth Koren, Anja Hammerseng-Edin, Alina Wojtas and Tine Stange, last season's runners-up in the Women´s EHF Champions League managed to bounce back from a poor start and win by two goals – even though they lead by six at several times during the 60 minutes.

Home side Baia Mare got off to the better start in Romania and had several three goal leads in the opening phase of the match, but it did not take the Norwegians long to work themselves into the game.

The visitors managed to tighten their 6-0 defence, and this also improved the working conditions for Sandra Toft in goal and enabled Larvik to run their counter attacks, which are among their strongest weapons.

The results were spectacular as they changed a 7:4 deficit into their first lead in the Champions League this season, when Nora Mork made it 9:8 with a penalty shot after 17 minutes.

Larvik progressed to a six goal lead, and although Baia Mare managed to reduce the distance to two goals a couple of times towards the end, the Norwegian win was never really in danger, due in large to the 18 goals from the Mork sisters.

"It was a very intense match and my head is still spinning because of it," said Tor Odvar Moen, Head Coach of Larvik. "We started on the wrong foot last week against Rostov so we needed this victory and despite some pressure at the end we are glad to get the two points - it was a great fight.”

Moen's counterpart, Aurelian Roșca, Head Coach of HCM Baia Mare was in no doubt as to why his side lost and what they had to do to put it right for their next match.

“Larvik made fewer mistakes than us today," he said. "We committed too many errors in attack in the last 15 minutes of the first half and we gave them the opportunity to score easy goals.

“In the second half we tried to catch them but we did not concentrate in some of the crucial moments in the game. We hope to be more attentive next week, with Rostov.”

Left wing Thea Mork scored her nine goals with just nine attempts, while her twin sister Nora needed 16 shots for her nine.

The French playmaker Allison Pineau scored eight times for Baia Mare.

“Last year we won here by one goal so we knew it would be difficult today," said Karoline Breivang, Centre Back, Larvik after the match. "The atmosphere here is extraordinary with a very loud crowd, but we knew what to expect as we watched HCM’s game in Ljubljana. We are very pleased with the two points.”