The Borussia Dortmund women's handball team made the approximately 300 kilometre journey home from southern Hesse as league leaders, having won 33-31 (14-15) away to HSG Bensheim/Auerbach on Matchday 6 of the Women's Handball Bundesliga thanks to a significantly improved second-half performance.

The two points saw coach André Fuhr's charges climb to the top of the table – for the time being at least – having leapfrogged the previous leaders SG BBM Bietigheim, who are not in action until Friday. But that was not the only reason Fuhr was satisfied after the final whistle sounded: "I take my hat off to the team for their performance in the second half. Our goal was to get the two points. We've managed that and we'll take the points back to Dortmund."

It was end-to-end in the opening minutes, with both sides consistently taking their chances. The especially good news from a BVB standpoint was the return of Mia Zschocke, who was in full flow following her ligament injury. The centre-back's five goals in the opening 10 minutes were pivotal in helping her side surge into an 8-5 lead in that period. But the home side from southern Hesse did not let up and scored four goals on the bounce to go 9-8 ahead against a Borussia team that had temporarily lost Zschocke to a two-minute penalty.

Fuhr called the first time-out shortly afterwards – above all, the covering play was too inconsistent in this period. But it did not have the desired effect, and inaccuracies in front of goal began to creep into the play too. Bensheim held a 13-10 advantage for a long time, as both attacking ranks squandered numerous chances around the 20-minute mark. But the Black & Yellows closed the gap to HSG in the minutes leading up to the interval, trailing by 15-14 as the half-time whistle sounded. "We made a good start but then thought it would be too easy," said Fuhr in summary of the first half. 

It was a goal-laden start to the second period, with Alina Grisjeels scoring twice on 34 minutes to make it 18-17 and put BVB ahead again for the first time since the 14th minute. Fuhr seemed to have found the right words – and the right tactics: Dortmund switched to a 5-1 formation and caused Bensheim massive headaches with their attacking play. BVB goalkeeper Yara ten Holte also proved to be the difference-maker in the opening 10 minutes, making three saves to deny HSG players in promising positions.

The lead grew to seven goals (27-20) by the 45-minute mark, with the likes of Amelie Berger and Merel Freriks now finishing much more consistently in front of goal. Two goals into an empty net while a woman down saw HSG narrow their deficit to 31-27 on 52 minutes, prompting a BVB time-out. It was a close finish, with Bensheim closing the gap to three goals with seven minutes to go (31-28). But in the end the Borussia players' quality shone through – especially their finishing – as they kept HSG at bay and ran out 33-31 winners after 60 minutes. 

BVB: Ten Holte, Kohorst - Berger (4), Grijseels (8/4), Sando, Zschocke (6), Moreno (1), Kücükyildiz, Abdulla, Gutierrez Bermejo (1), Freriks (6), van der Heijden (6), Rønning (1/1)