09.05.2009, 06:59
Győr win goalkeepers' duel

The Hungarians take two-goal lead; Pálinger and Haraldsen proved their exceptional qualities in Aalborg.

Győr win goalkeepers' duel

It was the game of defences and goalkeepers, as Győr won the first leg of the Womens’s Champions League Final by 26-24 away against Viborg HK.

Katalin Pálinger in the Győr goal made 21 saves, while Katrine Lunde Haraldsen performed 18 at the other end of the court – four of them from 7-meter shots!

Throughout the 60 minutes, both teams had serious problems in attack against very strong 6:0 defences and the goalkeepers. The match was equal all the way, however and the distance was never more than three goals.

Viborg took the better start and went ahead 2-0, but Győr soon answered back and took a two-goal lead at 4-2, and 5-3. They even extended this lead to 8-5 before Viborg managed to get back into the game after a team time-out, which was apparently quite successful.

A red card for Győr player, Anita Kovacsics, for hitting Grit Jurack after 24 minutes also played a role in this phase of the game.

Viborg equalised at 8-8 and went 9-8, 10-9, and 11-10 up before it was the visitors´ turn to benefit from a team time-out and get ahead 14-12.

Viborg equalised again, but a 7-meter goal from Anita Herr in the last second of the first half secured the visitors a 15-14 lead at half time.

Győr initiative

In the second half, defences and goalkeepers became even more important. In the first quarter of an hour after the break the scoring percentages dropped considerably on both sides.

In general, however, Győr took the initiative most of the time and the 300 Hungarian supporters among the 5564 spectators remained loud during this phase of the game.

Győr got ahead by three goals again (22-19, 23-20, 24-21 and 25-22), but Viborg managed to fight themselves back into the game once more. They reduced it to 24-25 and even had the ball with the chance to equalise in the last minute. Jurack made a technical mistake; Vérten picked up the ball and gave it to Spiridon who scored the last goal of the match from the fast-break, 24-26.

Zsuzsanna Tomori was the top scorer of Győr with 7 goals, while Anja Althaus and Rikke Skov scored 6 each for Viborg.

The second leg will take place in Veszprém next Saturday.

TEXT: Peter Bruun