Metzingen win but give away bigger advantage
Metzingen win but give away bigger advantage
The debutants kept their unbeaten record, the former Champions League winners (1999) still have the chance for their next trophy: TuS Metzingen won the first leg of the Women’s EHF Cup Final against Dunaujvarosi Kohasz KA and can dream of the first ever title for a German club in the last edition of this competition.
The team of Hungarian born coach Csaba Konkoly beat the Hungarian side 28:26 but lost a better base for the second leg.
It was Metzingen’s ninth win in their ninth European Cup match in their first ever international season. The final will be decided in the second leg next Friday in the Veszprém Arena.
EHF Cup Final, first leg:
TuS Metzingen (GER) vs Dunaujvarosi Kohasz KA (HUN) 28:26 (13:10)
The first half was imprinted by both goalkeepers: While Sabine Stockhorst backed the hosts, Viktória Oguntoye was the reason why Metzingen were ahead by just 13:10 after 30 minutes.
Dunaujvaros stopped the ways of Anna Loerper, the regular top scorer of the 'pink ladies', but lacked ideas and measures in attack to endanger the hosts.
The Hungarian side caused a high number of turnovers while the European Cup debutants, who had to replace their injured key players Julia Behnke and Ina Großmann, lacked the efficiency at 100 percent chances like counter-attacks.
Still, Metzingen were constantly ahead and extended the margin to four goals right after the break.
Zdravko Zovko, coach of Dunaujvaros, took the consequences and changed the goalkeeper. And though his side had full control of Loerper in her role as playmaker, Metzingen were in full control of the match.
Bernadett Temes - ultimately top scorer with six goals, like Tonje Loseth - had her strongest period in the middle of the second half. Her sixth goal was for 20:16 - and the hundreds of pink dressed fans among the 2000 spectators jumped for joy.
Despite a strong performance of experienced Anita Bulath and Hungarian international Krisztina Triszczuk, Metzingen even forged ahead to a six-goal advantage (26:20) in minute 49 after Loerper’s double strike from the penalty line.
Zovko took his time-out, and while he found the right words and the right tactics with a one-against-one defence against Loerper, his players profited from a one-woman-advantage to reduce the gap to only two goals (26:24).
In that time, and until the end, Anna Kovács took the responsibility in attack as Bulath was running out of power.
Metzingen again forged ahead to 28:24 but two turnovers and one save of Oguntoye paved the way to probably two crucial Dunaujvaros goals, including Triszczuk buzzer-beater for 28:26.
