Flensburg never hit the heights of Sunday’s 27:20 home win against KIF Kolding Kobenhavn when they visited Sweden Thursday night.

In fact, Alingsas were within a solitary goal of their German visitors until the final 10 minutes, when Flensburg finally managed to put some distance between the two teams.

The reigning champions failed to reproduce the rapid start which saw them get up 6:1 early on against Kobenhavn, and instead found themselves trailing 2:0.

The home lead even reached four goals, on more than one occasion, but Flensburg began to find their rhythm in attack and got a grip in the game.

Still, the visitors had to wait until 20 minutes and 30 seconds into the match before they could draw level, when Anders Eggert made it 11:11 – and it took the favourites another three-and-a-half minutes to gain their first lead at 13:12.

The lead remained narrow at the break, with Flensburg up 16:14.

Those among the 2,137-strong crowd at Estrad Alingsas that expected Flensburg to take control at the start of the second half were proved wrong, however.

Flensburg’s lack of pace in attack stifled their efforts as Alingsas continued to fight bravely and remain tactically well organised, keeping their opponents within sight.

But the German side’s class shone through in the closing 10 minutes. Flensburg stepped up their defence and behind them, goalkeeper Mattias Andersson produced a fine second-half display to keep the hosts out.

Flensburg’s attack continued to struggle but Andersson and his defence provided the basis for Flensburg to build their lead from 22:21 to 27:21 and seize the initiative before Alingsas grabbed a late consolation.

Flensburg move on to 10 points from eight games in third position, while Alingsas, with just two points, can no longer advance.