After a tough start to the game, not being able to find a solution for Nykøbing's defence, Ikast made a turnaround in the second half. In their historic 30th EHF European League Women game they raised a long-awaited trophy on the third attempt.
FINAL
Nykøbing Falster Håndbold (DEN) vs Ikast Handbold (DEN) 24:31 (15:14)
- Nykøbing's defence was the key to their lead as they made Ikast sweat when Elma Halilcevic completed yet another fast break for 6:3
- five-goal lead was the biggest gap between the two in the first half but Nykøbing could not maintain the same high pace, allowing Ikast to narrow it to just one
- Ingvild Bakkerud and Emma Friis were key players for Ikast's comeback, equalising only five minutes into the second half
- the decisive period for the end result was Ikast's run from the 33rd to the 41st minute when they turned from trailing by two to leading by two
- Nykøbing failed to keep up with the newly imposed pace as Ikast was having fun on the court and the bench, knowing they had a trophy in their hands
- left wing Emma Friis won the EHF Finals Women 2023 MVP award with another great performance - after four goals in the semi-finals, she netted 11 against Nykøbing
- Ikast become the first team to win five different EHF trophies and seven titles: European League, the Champions Trophy (1998), the EHF Cup (2002 and 2011), the Cup Winners' Cup (2004 and 2015), and the City Cup (1998)
Ikast's dream comes true
If we count only the 2022/23 season, Ikast level with SG BB Bietigheim for the longest winning run as they built a 10-game streak. Adding their last season's third place match win over Baia Mare they just set a new record in the competition raising the longest winning run to 11. In their unbelievable unbeaten run in the EHF European League Women season, they proved why they were favourites ahead of the start in Graz.
Ikast have had both the most efficient attack and defence, scoring 312 times in 10 games and conceding 238. It makes a ratio of 31.2 goals scored on average and 23.8 goals conceded on average and a goal difference of +72.
Ikast made a goal-run game in the second half, completely turning conceded into their show after trailing in the first half. With the whole team fighting for the same cause and with the stellar performances by left back Ingvild Bakkerud, Respect Your Talent alumni Julie Scaglione, excellent goalkeeper Jessica Ryde and last but not least MVP of the EHF Finals Women 2023 Emma Friis, it was easy to make a comeback for the title.
A silver medal for us in the first try in the final four is big. In the group phase we lost the first two games and everybody said we couldn’t go on, and now we were in the final today and took a silver.
We’re really glad about the performance in the second half especially, also at the end of the first half. We know it’s two teams that know each other really good, we’ve played a lot of matches in the Danish league, and the way Falster played against us in the first half it’s the best I remember in the last seasons they’ve played, especially the defence was really good. A tough match for us, but I’m glad and also really happy about the way my players turned the match around.
