On the ball from the opening whistle

TBV celebrates a convincing win over Berlin's Foxes

TBV Lemgo has begun the second half of the season with a 31:25 (16:14) win over the Berlin Foxes. Apart from Hermann, trainer Mudrow had a full team to hand.

TBV started off with Lichtlein in goal, Mark Schmetz, Holger Glandorf, Martin Strobel, Ferenc Ilyés, Jens Bechtloff and Vignir Svavarsson. Daniel Kubes came on for Svavarsson in defence. Holger Glandorf brought home the first two goals to give TBV a 2:0 lead before Richwien netted the first goal for the visiting team. A well-matched game ensued and TBV was able to take a two-goal lead again with a double strike from a highly-concentrated Ilyés in the 8th minute, bringing the score to 6:4. Svavarsson added to this to make it 7:4 following some nice play from Ilyés. The Foxes couldn't be shaken off however, and were better off in the 14th minute, boosting the score to 8:7 before Bechtloff finished off a counterattack with a nice spin ball to make it 9:7.

In the 16th minute, Volker Mudrow gave Ilyés a break and Michael Kraus came in on the left-back position. The next goal was scored by Martin Strobel whose explosive standing throw brought the score to 10:7. When Holger Glandorf then increased the lead to 11:7, Foxes coach Dagur Sigurdsson used his first round time-out; 16 minutes 33 seconds had been played at this point. TBV remained the dominant team however: Bechtloff's counterattack in the 21st minute (13:8) made the power relation clear and Svavarsson even increased this to 14:8 following a nice lead from Kraus. But the Foxes again showed that they wouldn't be giving up without a fight: in the 24th minute, Nincevic narrowed TBV's lead to 14:11 and TBV neglected opportunities in the offensive that led Volker Mudrow to call his time-out when Strand made the score 14:12. 24 minutes 19 seconds had been played at this point. Tamas Mocsai then came on for Glandorf, but the Foxes remained on the ball and Laen brought his team another goal closer (14:13, 26th min). Bechtloff ended TBV's 0:5 run with his counterattack that raised the score to 15:13 (27th min). The two-goal lead remained up until half-time.

Following the break, Foxes coach Sigurdsson first surprised with his move to substitute Stochl who was essentially keeping up with Heinevetter. For TBV, Kehrmann played on the outside right; at the circle, Sebastian Preiß made his return to league play; Glandorf initially remained on the bench. The visiting team scored the first goal in the second half, Strand successfully made it 16:15. Strobel and his teammates were unable to win any advantage for TBV during the Foxes' first player suspension; Mocsai then scored when numbers were again equal to make the lead 19:16 (36th min).When itself outnumbered, TBV battled fiercely and didn't allow the Foxes to come any closer – on the contrary, Mocsai and Preiß scored for TBV, although the team was then unlucky in the 40th minute (21:18) when a crossbar smash by Mocsai caused the ball to deflect off Heinevetter's head into the goal. Kraus followed up to make the score 22:18 with a cheeky throw from the seven metre line that left Heinevetter looking old. A wonderful no-look lead from Mocsai was validated by Preiß in the 46th minute when they outnumbered the Foxes to make the score 23:19. TBV also proved the better team in the second half, but remained unable to decisively break loose up to this point.

Sigurdsson took his time-out at 47:02 and repositioned his team. A dream pass from Kehrmann to Bechtloff and the safe clinching of 25:19 created the best of atmospheres among the 4,025 spectators in the Lipperlandhalle.

When Holger Glandorf returned to the field after a ban for Mocsai, just under 10 minutes were still to play and, with a score of 26:20, a win for TBV seemed certain. After a seven metre penalty and a revoked free ball from Kreis, the TBV could already have been declared the winners. Michael Kraus then ensured the win with his second steal in the game that increased the lead to 28:21 (54th min). Berlin again switched to the offensive, but nothing more could be changed in the TBV's well-earned victory. The spectators thanked their team with standing ovations and celebrated a successful start to the league in the new year.

Comments on the game:

Dagur Sigurdsson: Lemgo deserved to win the game. Our lead defender was sorely missed today. Overall I was happy with my team's performance though, but there was simply something missing for a win.

Volker Mudrow: Today's result is extremely important. We have begun the second half of the season with a win, which is extremely important after the long break. I am very pleased that we were able to set a good tone for the game today. We must get even better at this however and learn from the faltering first half of the season.