Match Report
Sarah Wachter shines in top match victory
The scenario: After the draw against Buxtehude last week, the aim was to pick up the first victory against Thüringer HC. A win in the top match would also be a statement at this early stage of the season.
Personnel matters: Henk Groener was still without goalkeeper Tess Lieder, who was out with a head injury. The BVB squad was otherwise complete.
The match & analysis: It was the perfect start for the Borussia women's handballers. THC coach Herbert Müller called his first time-out after 200 seconds, with the Black & Yellows already 3-0 up. And things did not get better at all for Thüringen after the timeout. Suddenly, it was 5-0 to Alicia Langer and her team-mates. That was followed by a time penalty, however, and THC won several penalty throws which enabled Japan's Natsuki Aizawa, among others, to cut the deficit to 7-5.
Borussia regained their composure in attack and the improving understanding between Deborah Lassource, Dana Bleckmann and Alicia Stolle at the back of the court was clear to see. Kelly Vollebregt capitalised on the space created on the flank and scored from the right side for the fourth time after 18 minutes. BVB coach Henk Groener called his team together and asked them to be more attentive in defence again and to spread the play in attack at the same time in order to create space.
In their respective goals, both Sarah Wachter and Dinah Eckerle between the sticks for Thüringen excelled time and time again. Wachter made nine saves by the 22-minute mark, while Eckerle racked up eight. The play down the middle and the high tempo of THC caused the Black & Yellows problems before the interval and the home team overran the Dortmund defence at times. This repeatedly resulted in either a penalty throw or a goal from the circle.
Johanna Reichert was too consistent against Sarah Wachter from the seven-metre line: Reichert netted six times from six attempts and thus kept her team within touching distance. But Dana Bleckmann scored the final point before the break with a dart past the entire Thüringen block to make it 17-13.
On Johanna Reichert's seventh attempt shortly after half-time, Sarah Wachter got her leg in the way and ended the left-sided backcourt player's streak. However, Borussia only led 20-19 by the 38-minute mark as THC were finding the back of the net too quickly, partly due to a time penalty imposed upon Kelly Vollebregt.
BVB failed to further extend their lead with the score at 24-20 (44). In a wild spell with plenty of misplaced passes and a back-and-forth from both teams, Henk Groener called a time-out, calmed his team down and called for more clarity in their actions once again. Sarah Wachter was as solid as a rock between the sticks and made one save after another. The Black & Yellows entered the final 10 minutes of the match with a 27-23 lead.
One absolute highlight came from Deborah Lassource, who put her arm around an opposition defender's leg with the ball in her hand during a crossover and fed Lisa Antl in the circle. The home team played seven versus six in attack time and time again, but Henk Groener felt his team were well-equipped to deal with that even before the game. In light of their constant numerical inferiority, Borussia performed very strongly and vindicated their coach. In addition, THC made a substituion error which silenced the Salza-Halle in Bad Langensalza with three minutes remaining and a three-goal deficit to overcome. And so the top match ended in an away victory for the Black & Yellows.
Reactions:
Henk Groener: "Thüringen are strong fighters. We played a very commanding game for long spells. We were very frustrated with the draw last week. Sarah saved a great many throws for us today. We had more flow to our play at the back of the court and that also gave us more space on the flanks. It was very disciplined and a good performance."
Dana Bleckmann: "It was an exciting clash. THC didn't make it easy for us, but we were able to build up a good lead thanks to our start. Things worked well for us today in terms of our interplay, I'm very happy about that."
Outlook: The women's handballers have two home games coming up. They will play the next cracker against HSG Blomberg/Lippe at Halle Wellinghofen at 19:00 CEST next Saturday. After the national team training course, which Sarah Wachter, Lena Hausherr and Dana Bleckmann have been invited to, Borussia will then play host to Sport-Union Neckarsulm.
Women's handball team: Kothen, Wachter; Hausherr (4/2), Campos Costa (1), Kusian, Antl (2), Degenhardt, van Maurik (1), Langer (7), Lassource, Sasaki (1), Husebø, Olsson (3), Vollebregt (5), Bleckmann (6)