SC DHfK Leipzig can still win: Frank Carstens’ team narrowly beat HC Erlangen on Thursday evening and thus gave up the Red Lantern in the Handball Bundesliga for the time being. For a long time it looked like a confident success against the Franconians, but in the end Leipzig crawled over the finish line.
The handball players of SC DHfK Leipzig have set an example in the Bundesliga relegation battle. After nine games without a win, coach Frank Carstens’ team defeated HC Erlangen 30:29 (17:13) in front of their home crowd. In the first home win of the year, Dean Bombac was SC DHfK’s best scorer with eight goals in front of 4,510 spectators, moving up to second-to-last place with 13:47 points.
Leipzig run to Three goal lead
The Leipzig team started the game with a lot of momentum, but increasingly revealed problems in defense because they acted too passively against Erlangen’s backcourt shooters. The guests took the lead with two goals in the middle of the first half (11:9). As a result, goalkeeper Tomas Mrkva improved considerably, and the Leipzig team also found their way into the defense. With a 6:1 run they converted the deficit into a 15:12 lead (25th).
Nervous fluttering in the final phase
After a good start to the second half, they extended their lead to 21:15 (39th). The hosts looked like the sure winners until 27:21 (52nd), before nerves began to flutter in the final phase. Marek Nissen in particular, who scored a total of eleven goals, was difficult to hold on to during this phase. With 43 seconds left, Erlangen got within a goal, but in the final attack Leipzig played down the clock. SC DHfK also won its tenth Bundesliga home game against the Franconians.
That’s what the coach said
Frank Carstens (Leipzig): “It was an open game, we were always a goal behind until just before half-time. Then we took a step forward and were outstanding in defense at the beginning of the second half. Erlangen were excellently prepared, we had to do a lot through individual actions. In the end it was a close game and we are happy that we won the thing and got our third win of the season.”
dpa/cke
