The Borussia Dortmund women's handball team fell to their first loss of the season on Matchday 17. The Black & Yellows were defeated 28-24 (14-9) away to third-placed TuS Metzingen. Reigning champions Bietigheim, currently placed second in the league table, are away to Mainz 05 on Sunday. 

''We were already down 5-1 after just five minutes. I would say Metzingen gave us a taste of our own medicine through their powerful attacking play and high tempo game. It was really wild out there,'' said BVB board member Andreas Bartels. The league-leading Dortmund side were unable to draw themselves to within two scores of Metzingen, who had the support of a boisterous home crowd behind them. At half-time, the Black & Yellows found themselves 14-9 down on the scoreboard.

The second half didn't bring about much in the way of change. BVB were unable to capitalise on errors made by Metzingen, unable to string together a good scoring run and unable to chip away at the deficit, which remained stuck at four or five goals. ''At the end of the day, a 28-24 defeat was a fair result. In games like this, you can see how important having an international player of the quality of Alina Grijseels in your team is. We also felt the absence of Merel Freriks. We're lacking in certain areas when we don't have a full complement of players at our disposal,'' said Bartels.

Despite the setback, Borussia Dortmund remain atop the table. Second-placed Bietigheim may be able to pull to within a point on Sunday, while the good result for Metzingen means that what looked like a two-horse title race now has a third serious challenger. Kelly Dulfer continued her outstanding run of form, leading the scoring for BVB with nine goals. Kelly Vollebregt also impressed, as did goalkeepers Roch and Duijndam. The rest of the side flattered to deceive. 

Next Saturday, the BVB women will host Neckarsulmer Sportunion. The match will get underway in the Halle Wellinghofen at 19:30 CET. (br)