25.02.2016, 07:20
ÉRD and Vipers defending narrow leads on foreign ground

ROUND PREVIEW – Close encounters to be expected in Paris and Ljubljana, while Lada and Holstebro need to persevere in the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners´ Cup.

ÉRD and Vipers defending narrow leads on foreign ground

ÉRD HC and Vipers Kristiansand are both defending narrow leads heading to France and Slovenia, where they are trying to book tickets for the semi-final of the Women´s Cup Winners` Cup.

ÉRD have the tightest lead, as the Hungarian side was only able to defeat Issy Paris Hand 29:28 at home in the first leg. Therefore, the French team has a very good chance to proceed to the semi-final, when the two teams will meet again on Saturday night in France.

Vipers Kristiansand have one goal more to rely on before flying to Ljubljana for their second meeting with RK Krim Mercator on Saturday. The Vipers won the first match 29:27 in Norway, as it was the former Norwegian international, Kristine Lund Borgesen´s first match as temporary head coach.
However, the two goals represent no demanding lead for the Kristiansand team before the trip to the Slovenian capital.

“We could have won bigger in the first match and even though I was happy with the victory, it annoyed me a little that the score was not reflective of our true capabilities,” added Vipers’ Norwegian international, Marta Tomac, on her club´s website.

While the first legs were tight in Hungary and Norway, there seems to be little, if any, doubt regarding the outcome of the Russian duel between Handball Club Lada and Zvezda Zvenigorod. Lada commanded the first away match with a score of 43:30 and this result makes the return match in Togliatti on Saturday afternoon look almost like a formality.

On the other hand, it may not look like a formality when Team Tvis Holstebro make the short drive to Viborg Monday evening for the second leg of the all-Danish match-up against Viborg HK. However, with an 11 goal lead from their 25:14 win at home in the first leg, Holstebro are the obvious favourites to clinch the semi-final berth.

Nevertheless, Viborg will need to perform considerably better, with respects to their attacking play, than they did in the first match, if they want to keep their chances alive of continuing in the competition.

TEXT: Peter Bruun/tm