16.06.2015, 06:12
National champions of Europe - Men Part 4: North-West

FEATURE: Review of the men's national leagues in Europe. The fourth part of the series takes a closer look at the North West: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Scotland and England.

National champions of Europe - Men Part 4: North-West

The domestic leagues have come to an end and we now approach the draws of the 2015/16 European season, starting with the Men's EHF Champions League draw on 26 June. In six parts, the spotlight is shone on each of the national champions and their path to glory. The third part consists of teams from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Scotland and England.

Denmark – KIF Kolding Kobenhavn

For the third time in history, KIF Kolding Kobenhavn and Skjern Handbold met in the final of the Danish championship.

In the first leg in Messecenter Herning the defending champions KIF laid the foundation for defending the title, winning 30:24. The six-goal lead let them lift the trophy in front of 5,000 fans in Brondbyhallen despite the 21:20 defeat against the EHF Cup bronze winners from Skjern.

39-year-old Kasper Hvidt showed an outstanding performace in both final matches and proved once again a recipe for triumph. Thanks to him, KIF won the championship for the 14th time making them the most successfull men's team ever in Denmark.

Kim Andersson, who will move back to his youth club Ystad IF after three years in Denmark was impressed by the atmosphere during the final. "How can I leave this? It's so hard right now," he said.

Sweden – IFK Kristianstad

12,000 spectators in Gothenburg's Scandinavium witnessed a thrilling final for the Swedish championship. Last year's champion Alingsas HK faced IFK Kristianstad in an intense match seeing both teams leading alternately.

But Kristianstad turned out to be the better team. After catching up 24:24 they managed to win 28:25 in the most important match of the season.

Led by - with eleven goals - topscorer of the final Marcus Olsson, who will leave Kristianstad for the Danish runners-up Skjern Handbold in the upcoming season, Kristianstad take the trophy for the first time after 62 years.

Norway – Elverum

While a newcomer won the regular season this year, it was once again one of the teams that already used to fight for the title in the previous years, to take the national championship.

Norwegian cup winners Arendal secured the first place after the regular season when they met Runar Sandefjord. In the quarter-finals though, Runar held the upper hand and ended Arendal's run for the Norwegian title.

Experienced Elverum took the title after beating Bodo in two matches in the final, 30:23 and 29:26.

Iceland – Haukar

Haukar celebrated an anniversary by winning their tenth Icelandic championship in history. But it took them the maximum of five matches in the final series, before they had finally overcome their opponents Afturelding.

Before that, they took the road to the finals pretty smoothly. In the quarter-finals, which are played in the best out of three modus, Haukar only needed two matches to defeat their local rivals Hafnafjordur and proceed to the next round.

And also in the semi-final, played in the best-of-five modus, Haukar went through without losing a single match. After three straight wins against Valur Reykjavik, they were ready for the final.

In the last stage of the competition, Afturelding had the better start, winning the first match away 27:24, followed by a 30:29 win after extra-time at home.

Then, Haukar gained momentum. A 23:22 win away and a 21:16 win on home ground pushed the decision to the final fifth match in which Haukar could finally lift the trophy after a 27:24 win.

Faroe Islands – VIF

VIF had to wait 16 years to lift the trophy again. With their narrow 26:25 victory against Neistin in the final match, they celebrate the Faroe Islands championship for the seventh time in the club's history this year, after 1985, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1997 and 1999.

That makes them the second most successful men's club on Faroe Islands. Only Kyndil were able to win the title more often with ten national championships.

Luxembourg – HB Dudelange

The very last goal of the season was a golden one for HB Dudelange. When Malvin Patzack hit the net to make it 33:32 in the last play-off match in the Sales-Lentz-League, Dudelange were back on top again.

After their main opponent Handball Käerjeng had won their last match the previous day, HBD needed to win at Esch to take the trophy for the 23rd time. Even though Handball Esch were already out of contention, they gave Dudelange a run for their money.

Three minutes before the end of this crucial match the deal seemed to be sealed for HBD, as they were leading 32:29, then Esch equalised, right before Patzack saved the day for Dudelange.

After losing the cup final against Käerjeng 28:34, Dudelange took revenge in the league, ending the season on top and ahead of the rivals Käerjeng.

Netherlands - Limburg Lions

After finishing second four times in a row, Limburg Lions finally managed to make the last step towards the title. And all they needed was a woman to show them the right way.

Under the guidance of head coach Monique Tijsterman the team from Sittard added the domestic championship title to the Dutch Cup and the multi-national Bene-League title this season.

In the Dutch finals against Volendam the Lions crowned themselves champions in the second match after winning 29:28 on home ground and 34:29 away.

"I never thought we would lose these matches," commented Tijsterman after the finals. "We have great quality in our ranks and we are able to stay relaxed in tough situations, and this was the key to our great season."

Belgium - United HC Tongeren

In order to win their seventh national title in the club's history, United HC Tongeren had to play a real thriller in the decisive third match of the play-off final against the favourites Initia Hasselt, who finished the regular season on the first rank ahead of Jos Schouterden's team.

Both teams never managed to lead by more than one goal throughout the game until a late rush and two goals by Martijn Meijer secured Tongeren the title.

Ireland – Dublin International HC

Last year's champions Astra HC went into the season-ending final four weekend as firm favourites to defend their crown, having dominated the league from start to finish and claiming victory in the cup competition earlier in the season.

However, they did not contend with the pure determination and resilience of rank outsiders University College Dublin, who upset the favourites 20:19 to reach their first league final since 2011.

There the students faced Dublin International HC, who had overcome a brave challenge by Lughnasa in the semi-final. The final proved to be a step too far for the surprise package as Dublin International displayed their vast experience to take the league title with a 37:31 win.

Scotland – Glasgow HC

Perennial Scottish champions Tryst 77 were forced to give up their league title for the first time in five seasons as Glasgow HC went through the entire season unbeaten.

The defending champions were still in with a shot ahead of the final round, but Glasgow proved to be too strong in a 27:24 win between the sides and claimed the title by four points.

Scottish handball’s dominant clubs met once again in the cup final and once again it was Glasgow who took the spoils to round off a brilliant season.

England - Warrington Wolves

England’s fiercest rivals came head to head on the final day of the national league to decide the champion once again.

Last season’s champions London GD travelled north to face Warrington Wolves with both sides locked level on points. The winner takes it all affair began with the sides exchanging leads before Warrington held the lead going into half-time.

The young side never looked back and successfully withheld late pressure to claim the title with a 28:26 win and followed it up two weeks later with their third successive cup victory over the same opponents.
 

TEXT: EHF, Peter Bruun, Björn Pazen, Kevin Domas / me / br