Corrales and Ivic shine as valiant Wisla dislodge THW Kiel

Orlen Wisla Plock began Round 6 of the VELUX EHF Champions League with only their second win out of nine meetings with Kiel – and their first since 2005 – after a superb second half allowed the Polish side to overturn a one-goal first-half deficit against their German rivals.

-    Sime Ivic stands out with six goals for Wisla, as does Rodrigo Corrales with 13 saves
-    Wisla prevail in a seesaw encounter after scoring five unanswered goals midway through the second half
-    Kiel lose their third game in six group phase matches

GROUP A
Orlen Wisla Plock (POL) vs THW Kiel (GER) 24:22 (12:13)   

Orlen Wisla Plock treated their passionate fans to a memorable evening as they beat more fancied THW Kiel thanks to a magnificent second-half performance on Wednesday.

Following one draw and four defeats in their opening five games, Wisla ground out a precious first win against one of the group favourites, thus reinvigorating their hopes of reaching the knock-out round.

It was a tight battle from start to finish, as the lead changed hands several times in the opening half.

"Wisla deserved for this victory. Today we made many errors, we missed many shots against Rodrigo Corrales. It was his day," said Kiel coach Alfred Gislason. "Our defence was ok, but as I said we made too many mistakes. Of course we can’t be satisfied with final result, but this victory was well deserved."

Outstanding goalkeepers

Both sides played well in attack as a high tempo enabled quick transition of the ball at either end, but goals were hard to come by with the goalkeepers performing heroics between the posts.

Wisla’s Rodrigo Corrales and Kiel’s Niklas Landin Jacobsen stopped a barrage of shots, and the outfield players had to work hard to beat them.

Serbian right back Marko Vujin led Kiel’s first-half charge with three goals while Croatian Sime Ivic made sure that Wisla stayed in touch at the other end.

Rampant run

Kiel seemed to get into their stride after taking a 17:15 lead early in the second half, which was the first two-goal advantage for either team in the absorbing contest.

Roared on by their frenetic fans, Wisla then hit five goals without reply to take the initiative, and held on to it until the final whistle.

The crowd erupted with joy after Ivic drilled in a thunderbolt to make the score 20:17 and although Kiel fought hard to force another twist, they were thwarted by the outstanding Corrales.

Vujin scored two successive goals to slash the deficit to 22:23 with 30 seconds left, but Kiel were finally forced into submission when Croatian winger Lovro Mihic scored te game’s final goal with only five seconds left on the clock.

Ivic led Wisla with six goals and Vujin scored as many for Kiel, but it was the 13 excellent saves by Corrales that made all the difference.