Skjern alone on top while Elverum take first home point
Both matches in Group D of the VELUX EHF Champions League ended in nail-biting thrillers.
In Denmark, a last second goal from right wing Jesper Dahl Jorgensen secured Skjern Handbold a narrow 20:19 win against HC Metalurg, and in Norway, Elverum Handball Herrer caught up from a seven-goal deficit to draw 28:28 against HCM Baia Mare.
GROUP D
Skjern Handbold (DEN) vs HC Metalurg (MKD) 20:19 (8:10)
Skjern have more likes on Facebook than there are people in their town, more than 8000.
That number may be increased even further after their one-goal win against Metalurg.
Jesper Dahl Jorgensen is also likely to increase his number of followers, as it was the 21-year-old right wing secured the win in the last second of the match.
However, Skjern had to work extremely hard to get the win, which gives them the first place in the group.
Metalurg coach Lino Cervar moved his 3-2-1 defence back into a more defence formation than in the previous matches.
This tactical move, in combination with a great performance from Daniel Dupjacanec in the Macedonian goal, caused considerable problems for Skjern’s attacking play.
A player, who had no problems, on the other hand, was Metalurg’s right back Janko Bozovic.
The 30-year-old, son of former Hypo Niederösterreich star Stanka Bozovic, scored no less than 11 times.
This was not enough over 60 minutes, though, as Skjern increased their pace in defence as well as in attack in the second half.
However, the home team and the 2609 spectators in Skjern Bank Arena had to wait until the last second to get the win.
“Only scoring 20 goals at home and missing as many opportunities as we did, is not good enough, but the win was crucial, as we probably have to win all our home matches in order to take one of the two top positions in the group,” Skjern back Daniel Svensson told Danish TV after the win.
Skjern's goalkeeper Soren Pedersen commented after the match:
"Their keeper was outstanding today, but if you look at the game overall we were the best team today."
Skjern now have six points, while Metalurg are on four.
Elverum Handball Herrer (NOR) vs HCM Baia Mare (ROU) 28:28 (9:14)
Elverum got their first VELUX Champions League point at home, while Baia Mare got their first away point ever, as the two teams drew in front of 1479 spectators in Terningen Arena in Elverum.
During the match, however, not much indicated a draw.
Baia Mare were leading all the way, and in the second half, they were even up by seven goals, but the Romanian champions couldn’t hold on and were even close to losing it all.
Baia Mare were dominating the match from the start, partly due to a great performance by Peter Tatai in goal.
The guests were leading by between two and four goals throughout the first half, before they could even take a five-goal lead with them into half-time.
In the first part of the second half, the visitors increased even further, and at 22:15, they had the biggest lead in the match.
However, Elverum were far from beaten.
Slowly but surely, the home team moved closer, and with seven minutes and 15 seconds left, Elverum equalised at 24:24.
Less than a minute later, the hosts took their first lead in the match, at 25:24, and Elverum were also in the lead at 27:26.
Baia Mare went back into the lead at 27:28, but in the last seconds, Elverum’s left wing Andre Lindboe managed to secure the draw for his team.
Lindbo scored six goals for Elverum, just like left back Ionut Ramba scored for the Baia Mare.
The draw leaves Baia Mare with four points and Elverum with three.
TEXT: Peter Bruun / bc
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