Elverum snatch two points in thriller against Bucuresti

After eight rounds, four Group D teams are still in a position to qualify for the play-offs. Elverum kept their chances intact by winning at home against Dinamo, in a 60-minute thriller, which ended with a penalty throw converted by Simen Pettersen.

• Despite being led by three at half-time, Elverum turned things around to win
• Elverum’s Alexander Westby was the best scorer with eight goals
• Bucuresti’s Razvan Gavriloaia netted six times
• The teams are now tied in third place in Group D with 10 points

GROUP D
Elverum Handball (NOR) vs Dinamo Bucuresti (ROU) 29:28 (12:15)

For the first 15 minutes of the match both teams were playing on the same level, trading goals and good defences.

But Razvan Gavriloaia was the detonator for Bucharest. With two consecutive goals, including a fast-break, he put his team two goals ahead after 18 minutes.

Vitaly Komogorov proved to be as efficient as his team-mate, finding solutions from long-range and giving Dinamo a four-goal advantage a couple of minutes before the break. But thanks to Alexander Westby's fourth goal of the first half, Elverum reduced the gap to three before going back to the dressing room.

The break obviously did some good for the locals, as they came back with better offensive solutions. Simen Pettersen and Sigvaldi Gudjonsson were netting while Elverum were finally finding their rhythm offensively. As a result, they were two goals ahead on the score board at the 42nd minute.

The last quarter of the game was an even one. Neither team got more than one goal ahead, with Lukas Sandell and Gavriloaia being the best scorers on both sides.

It looked like it would end in a draw before Dinamo got the ball. But after a time-out, Gudjonsson stole it and earned a penalty, which was converted by Pettersen, to give Elverum the two points at the end of a thriller.

Elverum coach Michael Apelgren was thrilled with the outcome.

"Bucuresti did a very good game today, and maybe they should have won it, but I think we played really good in the last minute, and we made an incredible finish in a fantastic handball match once again," he said. "Terningen Arena was fantastic, and I am really happy and proud, that we still are in the race and able to go through to the next round. We are really up there and fighting with the big guys."