27.08.2007, 02:34
Mixed results for Aalborg

Aalborg DH, finished fifth in the traditional pre-season Nøvlign Cup. Several European top teams – including Russian champion and EHF Cup winner Zvezda Zvenogorod – took part in the tournament.

Mixed results for Aalborg

Aalborg opened the tournament with a narrow 30-28 for Zvezda Zvenogorod. The Danes would also meet the Russian side in the first group stage of the Champions League – provided Aalborg go on from the qualification group.

In their second match Aalborg suffered another narrow defeat to a team close to the European top –they were defeated 32-31 by Norwegian champions, Larvik HK. In their third appearance, Aalborg made a 29-29 draw with Danish EHF Cup participants, Randers HK that defeated Zvezda Zvenogorod 30-27 earlier. The only victory at the tournament came at the end for Aalborg: they managed defeat last season’s number three in the Norwegian league, Gjerpen, by 28-27.

Lot of experience

After the tournament, Aalborg’s new Norwegian coach, Leif Gautestad, said that his team gained a lot of valuable experience during the weekend.

“We have seen that we play extremely well when we stick to our concept, but we get into trouble when we lose concentration and start individual plays. Furthermore, we are not enough determined in the decisive phases of the games. We took the lead every single game this weekend, but we did not manage to maintain it,” Gautestad commented.

“I am looking forward to having more time to train with the team. So far we only reached letter C in the alphabet or in our new playing system,” the Norwegian coach added.

Aalborg will start the Danish league on 5 September with a North Jutland local derby away against recently promoted Frederikshavn. In the last weekend of September, Gautestad and his girls will travel to Greece to play their qualification group for the Champions League.

TEXT: Peter Bruun