13.04.2015, 03:10
Fleury and Midtjylland finish the job

ROUND REVIEW: Neither FC Midtjylland nor Fleury Loiret Handball stumbled in the second leg of the Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals

Fleury and Midtjylland finish the job

Just as expected before the second leg, FC Midtjylland and Fleury Loiret Handball booked the tickets for final of the Women’s Cup Winners’ Cup.

FC Midtjylland were seven goals up after their 30:23 win in Budapest against FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria last weekend, and the Danish team was never in danger of losing that lead in the return match in the Ikast-Brande Arena.

The visitors did lead a couple of times at the beginning of the match but never by more than one goal, and at half-time FC Midtjylland had established a three-goal lead at 17:14.

A red card for star player Zsuzsanna Tomori in the second half did not make things easier for FTC.

Still, towards the end, they managed to equalise at 28:28, but at the end Midtjylland pulled out a 31:29 win and booked the ticket for the final with a total win of nine goals.

“It was not the best match in the world, but we played them like we should. Even though we rested several players, the new players contributed well and we succeeded with most of what we did,” FC Midtjylland right wing Trine Ostergaard told her club’s official website.

It came as no surprise that the other team in the final is Fleury Loiret Handball.

The French team lead by 12 goals, 32:20, over Hypo Niederösterreich after the visit to Vienna last weekend and even though Hypo were leading 2:1 at the beginning of the return match in Orlean, Fleury soon took control over the events, taking a 20:10 advantage into the dressing rooms.

In the second half, the 2,500 spectators saw Fleury taking things slightly easier, and the visitors managed to reduce the gap to eight goals, before the home team took a 32:22 victory and booked their place in the club's first European Cup final.

TEXT: Peter Bruun / cor