Danish champions beat Danish-born coach

After two straight victories in the last domestic league matches and after winning the Swiss Supercup, Kadetten Schaffhausen were in the perfect mood for the start of the VELUX EHF Champions League. But in the end they missed two important points against their Danish counterparts.

• Thanks to a clear improvement after the break, Danish champions Bjerringbro Silkeborg secured their first Champions League win since 2013.

• It was Bjerringbro’s successful return on the Champions League stage after a four-season absence.

• 22-year-old wing Johan Hansen was Bjerringbro’s match winner with seven goals.

• Schaffhausen are under pressure already in the fight for the Last 16 spots in hammer group A.

• Danish-born Kadetten coach Lars Walther was defeated by his fellow countrymen.

• 11 goals of Kadetten’s Hungarian playmaker Gabor Czaszar were not enough to win.

GROUP A:

Kadetten Schaffhausen (SUI) vs Bjerringbro Silkeborg (DEN) 24:25 (12:10)

The turning point of a thrilling and close match was the half-time break. Kadetten were ahead 12:10 after 30 minutes but could not carry the momentum into the second half.

Bjerringbro, helped by seven goals of Johan Hansen and a strong performance of Slovenian player Sebastian Skube, clearly improved after the break.

They first snatched away the lead and then stood the pressure in the final stages.

"We had a good start but missed a couple of chances," Bjerringbro line player Rasmus Jensen said. "Our goalkeeper played very well."

When Schaffhausen were in a two-man-advantage, they missed two chances with the score being 23:25 as the Bjerringbro defence worked perfectly well.

"I'm satisfied with the first half," Schaffhausen coach Lars Walther said. "But then we lost the aggressiveness and we made too many technical faults."

The final goal some seconds prior to the final whistle was only cosmetic, as the first victory of the Danish champions was sealed when a Kadetten shot was blocked 50 seconds before the end.

Right after the break, BSV equalised by two straight goals, then took the lead for the first time – and seemed to be on the winners’ way when being ahead 23:18.

But Kadetten fought back thanks to 11 goals in total by Gabor Csaszar, reducing the gap to 22:24.

"My performence means nothing after this game," Csaszar said. "We have to learn a lot. Now we have to look forward."

Both coaches took late time-outs within the last 90 seconds, but nothing changed anymore. Bjerringbro were clever enough to take a truly important win.