Successful season conclusion

A fantastic atmosphere and one final victory against Göppingen

TBV Lemgo ends the season with a hard-fought battle, beating Frisch Auf Göppingen 32:30 (15:11). Daniel Kubes to also leave TBV Lemgo for the new season.

Trainer Volker Mudrow started the final game of the 2009/2010 season with the following line-up: Martin Galia, Jens Bechtloff, Michael Kraus, birthday boy Martin Strobel, Rolf Hermann, Florian Kehrmann and Sebastian Preiß. Ferenc Ilyés switched with Kraus in defence. Frisch Auf began with some extremely offensive marking, but Kehrmann made a mockery of Oprea though and scored the opening goal with a shot over Weiner's head (1:0). Kehrmann also scored goal number two before Göppingen's offensive had even gotten into the game and even managed a third (3:0) before Haaß finally got a first goal in for the visiting team (5th min.). TBV missed out on a few obvious opportunities though, allowing Göppingen to narrow TBV's lead to 3:2 in the 7th minute.

Preiß ended five goal-free minutes for TBV with the 4:2 (10th min.), then Galia had to leave the pitch after being hit in the face by Schöne; Lichtlein came on for him in goal. Kehrmann was also given a break whilst Schmetz took over on the outside right. Thiede kept Göppingen in the game with the 4:3, and the equaliser followed shortly after in the 12th minute (4:4). Glandorf came on in the right back position, but it was Strobel who got the next goal in with a hip shot around the defence. Referees Biaesch and Sattler sent Schmetz from the pitch following a yellow card for complaining, immediately after which Kaufmann queried a foul, and was also shown the yellow card, then handed a two-minute penalty for shrugging his shoulders – at least this meant both sides remained on an equal par. Strobel netted the 6:4 in the 15th minute, and Glandorf made it 7:4 less than one minute later.

Göppingen still hadn't really gotten into the game, but managed to equalise (7:7) in the 19th minute due to TBV's sloppiness. Glandorf was awarded a time penalty after a foul on Horak, but TBV fought on with determination. Lichtlein blocked Horak's penalty shot, and Kraus then scored when TBV was a man down to make it 9:7 (21st min.). Lichtlein saved another penalty shot, Strobel boosted the score to 10:7 and Schmetz netted a counterattack (11:7) – TBV definitely had the upper hand. Svavarsson then had to sit out a time penalty for allegedly holding another player back, but Hermann managed to put in a nice solo performance from the outside to get the 12:8 in (25th min.).

Göppingen played on unperturbed, narrowing TBV's lead to 12:10 (26th min.); the 4,861 spectators in the sold-out Lipperlandhalle were treated to what was more an entertaining than a highly technical game. Mocsai had meanwhile come on in the centre position, and the Hungarian soon successfully notched up the 14:10 (29th min.). FAG trainer Petkovic subsequently had a disagreement with the refs and was awarded a yellow card that very same minute for complaining. 29:42 minutes had been played when Petkovic then showed his green card after Schmetz scored in a counterattack (15:10). There was just enough time for Göppingen to take one more penalty shot, with Haaß scoring after the siren had sounded for the half-time break.

TBV began the second half with the same line-up as at the end of the first. Schöne went down on TBV's circle in the 31st minute, holding his side, but TBV club doctor Volker Broy and physiotherapist Bennet Risch were immediately at his side and the FAG circle player was able to play on. TBV's four-goal lead held initially, Schmetz successfully scored a third penalty shot (17:13; 35th min.) and Kraus got the next in less than a minute later (18:14), with a second following in the 37th minute (19:15). Glandorf slammed a shot into the bottom right-hand corner in the 39th minute when the visiting team were a player down to gain the first five-goal lead of the second half. However, a little carelessness then crept into TBV's game and by the 42nd minute, the score was just 21:19. Ilyés came on in the left back position , taking over from Kraus who was given a rest; Göppingen's Tahirovic had meanwhile come on for Weiner in goal. Glandorf and Mocsai notched up the 23:19 with a fantastic solo performance from the latter; overall, TBV was the well-deserved leader at this point.

But Göppingen certainly didn't give up: former Lemgo player Kaufmann finally scored for his team after 45:35 minutes, after which Volker Mudrow played his green card. Kehrmann moved into the forward position in defence whilst Mocsai made an excellent pass to Preiß from the second wave who got the 25:22 in (48th min.). The referee duo of Biaesch and Sattler who seemed almost consistently uncertain on both sides then sent Ilyés off for two minutes; Glandorf responded with the 26:23. And when Lichtlein blocked Haaß's fourth penalty shot, it was clear that TBV had gained the upper hand.

TBV led 28:26 just under eight minutes from the final siren, but Mrvaljevic brought excitement back to the game with his penalty shot in the 54th minute (28:27). Petkovic was awarded a time penalty after exactly 54:54 minutes of play, but Schmetz remained unperturbed and followed up with the 29:27 from the penalty line. In the ensuing offensive by Göppinger, Michael Haaß managed to earn himself a red card, apparently for mouthing off to the referees. Petkovic immediately called his time-out, at which point 55:48 minutes had been played. Tahirovic obviously planned to follow in Haaß's footsteps, heading for the ref complaining vehemently. Ilyés was then sent off for not keeping the minimum distance, and Kehrmann followed seconds later for an alleged move against Kaufmann. The spectators were in uproar over the two referees' decisions. Lichtlein showed little interest, instead concentrating on blocking the next penalty shot by Mrvaljevic, and Bechtloff scored an ice-cold 30:27. The spectators were already on their feet three minutes before the game's conclusion.

Göppingen attempted an entirely offensive strategy at the end, which Strobel twice took advantage of: the 32:29 in the final minute brought the ultimate decision. TBV thanked its fans for supporting them throughout the season with a committed performance; the fans in turn acknowledged this with standing ovations and a fantastic atmosphere.

Not only Tamas Mocsai, Logi Geirsson, Mark Schmetz and Vignir Svavarsson were bid farewell at the end of the game, but also Daniel Kubes. The Czech lead defender will move to THW Kiel in the coming season, an agreement reached between the two teams just hours before this final game.