Clear defeat despite good opening phase

TBV loses to former champions

TBV loses 24:29 (11:15) against Gummersbach, their neighbours in the overall ranking, and moves down to 6th place.

TBV began the game in the Eugen-Haas-Halle with the following line-up: Carsten Lichtlein, Jens Bechtloff, Michael Kraus, Tamas Mocsai, Holger Glandorf, Florian Kehrmann and Sebastian Preiß. Daniel Kubes and Ferenc Ilyés came on for Kraus and Mocsai in defence. In the first two minutes of play, Kraus missed a penalty shot against Stojanovic, leaving Lützelberger to net the first goal of the game for VfL. TBV was on the ball though, and Glandorf and Schmetz both scored, with the latter bringing the team into the lead following the second penalty shot in the 6th minute (2:1). Although Gummersbach suffered a moment of weakness, Lützelberger was quick to score again (3:3; 8th min.), netting a second a short while later to bring VfL into the lead when TBV was outnumbered. The hosts were then on better form and took advantage of TBV letting several opportunities pass it by. Lützelberger was a continual trouble spot in defence, scoring again to bring VfL's score to 4:6.

A missed counterattack subsequently allowed Gummersbach to gain its first three-goal advantage; TBV really could not allow itself any errors in the time-honoured Eugen-Haas-Halle. Hermann meanwhile came on for Glandorf, and Kraus then successfully shot TBV's next goal (6:8; 16th min.), keeping TBV in the game and getting another in shortly after to make it 7:8. TBV did not seize the opportunity to equalise, stopping an avoidable counterattack instead before Preiß slammed his first goal of the game in from the circle (8:9, 21st min.) and Bechtloff followed up after a nice counter over Stojanovic to equalise.

In the 24th minute, Bechtloff had to leave the pitch for two minutes during which time VfL used their player advantage to raise the score to 9:11. Strobel meanwhile did the leg work in the back position and Kehrmann netted a goal after a nice feint. Gummersbach gave an outstanding performance when they outnumbered TBV though and the next goal given away by TBV instead brought VfL into the lead (10:13). Volker Mudrow called his first time-out when 25:16 minutes had been played. The problems in TBV offensive remained however and a simple technical error brought Gummersbach possession of the ball. A subsequent unfortunate action on Vuckovic by Kehrmann led to the latter having to leave the pitch for two minutes. Emotions ran high on the VfL bench, although these were soon dampened by a two-minute penalty for a player of their own.

VfL was again the team with greater presence on the pitch when both teams were a player down, taking the lead in the 28th minute (10:14) before Bechtloff was able to net a goal with a spectacular lift following a great Kempa lead from Kraus. TBV had meanwhile gone almost five and a half minutes without scoring any goals. VfL trainer Sead Hasanefendic called his time-out for the first half after 29:48 minutes of play and Szilagyi then duped TBV's defence entirely unnecessarily with a hip throw during a called passive warning to make the score 11:15 before the teams went into the changing rooms at half time. TBV had played far too inconsistently, failing to make it past capable Goran Stojanovic one too many times, meaning that the half-time lead for the hosts was also well deserved.

In the second half, goalie Lichtlein was then to thank for VfL not being able to take further advantage of these inconsistencies; Kehrmann subsequently netted the first goal of the second half to bring the score to 12:15. TBV's defence initially showed greater presence but was unable to stop VfL at the decisive moment, allowing Vuckovic to score the 13:17 in the 35th minute. The next simple error in the offensive had to be saved by Lichtlein yet again. VfL took advantage of the next shot at a goal: Lützelberger made it a five-point lead in the 36th minute (13:18). And TBV was not even able to catch up a great deal when VfL were a man down; the hosts were already back up to a full team when the 15:19 was scored in the 38th minute.

The next opportunity for TBV to catch up came when they outnumbered VfL and the score stood at 15:20, but Wagner got a goal in instead to make it 15:21 (41st min.), leaving TBV at risk of losing it completely. Kubes was sent off for two minutes following a foot stop and Strobel followed shortly after, giving Zrnic the chance to net the deciding goal in the 44th minute (16:23). TBV's offensive proved unable to get past Stojanovic during this phase, acting with too little inspiration and insufficient pressure. Mocsai had meanwhile come on for Strobel, Schmetz replaced Kehrmann and Svavarsson took over Preiß. Svavarsson was finally then successful, getting the 17:23 in for TBV in the 48th minute and Schmetz's counter in the 50th minute (19:24) seemed to promise a hint of improvement. VfL's offensive promptly followed though, remaining as good as unchallenged to the game's conclusion.

In the closing phase, TBV did not seem to want or be able to make any decisive improvement to the score. In defence, VfL continued to get in shots virtually unchallenged, and in the offensive, Stojanovic remained on the ball in the duel against TBV's attackers. In the 56th minute, TBV found itself at a seven-goal disadvantage (21:28) once again, eight after Stojanovic's next save. Volker Mudrow took his second time-out of the game after 56:30 minutes of play. Three consecutive goals at least then boosted the score to a more bearable 24:29 (60th min.), but TBV ultimately had to content itself with a clear defeat that was unfortunately entirely deserved.