TBV dominates for long periods in game against Melsungen

Strong first half enough for a win

Following an outstanding first half, TBV Lemgo enjoyed a well-earned win at home against MT Melsungen with a safe score of 35:30 (21:13).

Volker Mudrow began the game against TBV’s Hessian opponents with the following line-up: Carsten Lichtlein, Florian Kehrmann, Holger Glandorf, Martin Strobel, Michael Kraus, Jens Bechtloff and Sebastian Preiß. Ferenc Ilyés and Daniel Kubes came on in defence once again for Strobel and Kraus. Preiß scored the opening goal after a counterattack, TBV’s defence was strong from the start, and Kubes netted goal number two during the second wave in the 3rd minute to make it 2:0 before Vasilakis had even got the first goal in for Melsungen. TBV seemed far more focused than its opponents, their moves more decisive, and Glandorf’s throw in the 6th minute proved unstoppable for Kelentric, slamming into the right-hand corner of the net to bring the score to 5:2.

The success enjoyed in the opening minutes of play continued: TBV marked their opponents well and played with concentration in the offensive, which culminated in Kraus scoring the 7:3 after just 9th minute. After Glandorf’s 9:4 during the extended counterattack, MT trainer Ryan Zinglersen called his first time-out. Although just 10:12 minutes had been played at this point, his team already risked falling hopelessly behind. Vuckovic promptly scored with a nice Kempa pass, but Kraus was able to regain TBV’s five-point lead with a penalty shortly after (10:5, 12th min.). Melsungen got a bit more into things, narrowing the lead somewhat to 10:7 (14th min.), despite TBV retaining control of the game. Just a short while later, Kraus threw another successful penalty to boost the score to 13:8. Up until this point, MT’s defence had struggled to cope with the passes to Preiß in particular.

Kraus’ 14:9 in the 18th minute brought the spectators into a state of euphoria when he waited for a lead opportunity at the free-throw line with his back to the goal, then sneaked the ball into the goal past the perplexed Melsungen players with a standing throw. This was followed by an excellent counterattack pass to Kehrmann and a nice goal from Bechtloff from far outside – and then the score was suddenly 16:9 (20th min.). Ilyés was subsequently awarded the first time penalty of the game following a foul on Klitgaard; the penalty throw by Vuckovic only hit the crossbar though. The 19:10 by Bechtloff, which was also scored by Kempa pass when outnumbered, confirmed TBV’s enthusiasm, and the 4,012 spectators thoroughly enjoyed TBV’s performance (for the home team clearly continued to call the shots). Melsungen seemed overwhelmed at times, as was the case when Hermann took over from Glandorf in the right-back position in the 24th minute and Kraus deflected a goal a few seconds later to bring the score up to 20:10 – TBV’s first double-digit lead. The teams went into the changing rooms after 30 minutes with a well-earned lead of 21:13 for TBV.

In the second half, Svavarsson and Schmetz came on for Preiß and Kehrmann whilst Strobel, Kraus, Bechtloff, Hermann and Lichtlein remained in play. Kraus was first to score after the half-time break. Zinglersen then marked Kraus closely, Lechte put on a convincing performance in MT’s goal – blocking two counterattacks – and Vuckovic narrowed TBV’s lead in the 34th minute (22:15). It was when they outnumbered Melsungen that TBV’s defence finally lost its concentration – of all times. This gave Vuckovic the opportunity to score twice, which Mudrow responded to with a change of goalies: Galia took over from Lichtlein in the 36th minute. Vuckovic didn’t make himself any friends in the next couple of minutes when he cradled his face after a defensive move by Ilyés that had clearly hit his chest; the referee actually sent the Hungarian off for two minutes for this play acting, and the spectators subsequently acknowledged Vuckovic’s every involvement in the game by whistling each time the back position player touched the ball.

Despite this, Melsungen finally got a bit more into the flow of things: Schöngarth raised the score to 26:20 (40th min.) and Klitgaard got in the 26:21 after TBV had been obviously unsettled. This led Volker Mudrow to call his time-out, at which point 40:23 minutes had been played. Ilyés then came on in the left-back position, but Strobel was next to net a goal with a decisive individual move (27:21). The focused performance in the first half was all but over however. With the score at 27:22, Melsungen was at hot on TBV’s heels and Karipidis made it 27:23 (45th min.) following another save by Lechte. Glandorf then came on again for Hermann in the right-back position and immediately earned TBV a penalty throw for which Kraus squared off against Lechte, successfully sneaking a goal past him to make the score 28:23.

The mood among the TBV fans improved significantly after Bechtloff’s 29:23 (47th min.). Ilyés first intercepted a counterattack pass, then shot it behind his back on to the young outside left player. Kehrmann came on again, taking over from Schmetz on the outside right. Lechte in MT’s goal remained the best player of the second half, putting on a strong performance against Schmetz in a penalty throw dual, among others. And when the score reached 29:25 (50th min.), his team was finally back in the game. Mocsai then did the legwork for Strobel in the back position, and Ilyés and Bechtloff followed up with a goal each to make the score up to 31:25 (52nd min.). Melsungen meanwhile kept up with play however, preventing TBV from increasing their lead any further.

When TBV outnumbered their opponents, Glandorf successfully scored a reassuring 32:26 (53rd min.) before Kehrmann got the deciding goal in (33:26, 55th min.).In the last minute of play, visiting trainer Zinglersen called his second time-out to avoid an unnecessary counter goal being scored, as he affirmed after the game. This had no impact on his team’s ultimate defeat however; TBV were the winners of the night with what was effectively a safe 35:30 win in the end.