TBV travels to Spain with a seven goal advantage
First step in the right direction for the 1/2 Final
30:23 (15:13) win over CAI BM. Aragon earns TBV Lemgo a good start position for the return game in Spain.
TBV began the game with Martin Galia in goal, Florian Kehrmann, Rolf Hermann, Martin Strobel, Michael Kraus, Jens Bechtloff and Sebastian Preiß. Daniel Kubes and Ferenc Ilyés came on in defence for Kraus and Strobel. TBV got off to a good start, with Michael Kraus scoring the opening goal during the first offensive and Rolf Hermann following up to make it 2:0 in the 2nd minute. The guests’ first goal was then netted by Carton who sneaked a penalty throw past Galia in the third minute of play. Despite not having it easy against the extremely physically robust Spaniards, Strobel and his teammates played with great patience and did not let themselves become flustered and make hasty throws. Kubes provided a perfect demonstration of TBV's determination before Kehrmann’s 4:1 when he played the ball against Casanova, snatching it in a dive and flinging it on to Kehrmann. Visiting coach Mariano Ortega called his first timeout after 6:10 minutes of play when Kehrmann increased TBV’s lead even further to 5:1 just a short time later (7th min.) and when Aragon was struggling to overcome TBV’s efficient defence.
Aragon’s concentration levels subsequently improved significantly, hence they successfully boosted the score to 5:3 in the 9th minute (although Preiß was able to counter this a short time later). Overall, TBV seemed far superior during this phase, with some nice fast play from the defence who remained on form and an increase in the score to 7:3 shortly after (10th min.). The 8:3 by Hermann came during the first player advantage when Aragon appeared somewhat baffled. TBV remained highly focussed, playing patiently in the offensive and providing some strong defence. The power relations were also reflected in the score following Kehrmann’s 9:3 (16th min.) from the circle. Aragon battled to prevent a further increase in the point difference and was even able to reduce TBV’s lead somewhat to 11:7 in the 21st minute; Kraus sobering response slammed into the bottom right-hand corner of the guests’ goal soon after however.
Carton netted his third penalty throw when Rolf Hermann received the first time penalty for TBV following a foul against Arrhenius (22nd min.) and Holger Glandorf then joined the game for the first time whilst Preiß remained on the bench during Hermann’s time penalty. Although TBV kept up when outnumbered, with Kehrmann scoring from the circle to make the score 13:8, Aragon showed its true might during the player advantage, with play flowing far more smoothly and Stankovic cutting the lead to 13:10 with two goals (24th min.). Aragon had the chance at another goal, but Galia was on form against Casanova and Kehrmann turned the counterattack to his advantage to make it 14:10 (26th min.). In the 27th minute, Mocsai came on in the centre position for the first time, giving Strobel a bit of a rest. Kraus’ slammed a goal into the top left-hand corner and raised the score to 15:11; the game was a far more balanced one at this point. Particularly Stankovic played well in the right-back position; the 15:12 was already his 5th goal and he triumphed again from the outside just one second before the half-time siren to make the score a respectable 15:13 going into the changing rooms.
Volker Mudrow kept the same team formation after the break as at the end of the first half. The Spaniards returned from the changing rooms far more focussed than TBV, and Aragon used their player advantage to make it 15:14, with Stojanovic scoring yet another goal. In the 33rd minute, Stankovic evened out the game for Aragon for the first time, bringing the score up to 16:16; Ilyés meanwhile took up the left-back position and Mocsai remained in the centre position, but the flowing play enjoyed during the first half was no more. Galia then made a save to prevent Aragon from taking the lead and Preiß subsequently scored for TBV in the offensive to make it 17:16 (36th min.). Although TBV slowly but surely regained its confidence, opportunities were not taken advantage of, meaning that the Spaniards remained hot on their heels (18:17, 40th min.). Mudrow brought Kraus on again in the left-back position, but the next goal from here was actually scored by Jens Bechtloff who made a nice move over the centre and launched the ball into the right-hand corner of the goal. Hermann came on for Glandorf again whilst Mocsai continued to play in the centre position.
Half way through the second half, TBV earned itself a bit of a breathing space again: Hermann scored with a powerful standing throw to make it 21:18 and Galia put on an extremely strong performance in goal. Carton threw his sixth penalty throw in the 47th minute, but Galia stayed in the goal this time – and made a sensational dive to block the ball at the left-hand corner. With a bit of luck and skill, TBV made it through being outnumbered when Kraus had to sit out on a time penalty for a foul, and Preiß scored on a rebound to bring the score up to 22:19 (49th min.). Hermann followed up on this and his 23:19 in the 50th minute led visiting coach Ortega to play his green card, at which point 49:58 minutes had been played.
Despite this, TBV was next to score again: Kraus got one in during the 52nd minute after something of a goal-free run (24:19), heralding a preliminary decision on the game’s outcome. Galia had the ball in his hands again just a few minutes later, and celebrations broke out in the hall following the 25:19 by Hermann who came forward to make another throw; indeed, the cheers increased when Strobel made a no-look pass to Preiß who followed through with confidence to score his eighth goal of the game (27:20). Aragon wore itself out in the offensive against Kubes, Ilyés and their teammates, and seemed unsettled. In the final minutes of play, TBV again consistently retained the lead, and particularly Hermann was as good as unstoppable for the Spanish defence. Bechtloff boosted the score a little more make it to 30:22 in the last minute of play, after which the spectators acknowledged TBV’s top performance with standing ovations. The final score of 30:23 was well deserved, but is in no way an indication that the team may relax during the return game due to take place in Zaragoza on Easter Sunday.