Subdued atmosphere after Kiel's loss - A woman unexpectedly starts crying out in the crowd.
In the latest matchup of the Easycredit Handball Bundesliga, current champions THW Kiel faced off against Rhein-Neckar Löwen and lost 26:30 on their home turf. Remarkably, only 22 goals were scored during the first half, which indicates that both teams have critical weeks ahead, with Kiel participating in the Champions League at the beginning of June and Lions partaking in the European League as early as next week (semi-final on May 25 against Füchse Berlin). With not much left for either team in the HBL, it's evident.
The evening's most emotional moment came before the match began. A woman in the crowd started crying. What brought about this reaction? THW had planned a special campaign for their devoted employee and former managing director Sabine Holdorf-Schust. She was honored with a heartfelt video that recognized her 25 years of devotion to the Kiel club, which was played in the packed Wunderino Arena. The audience showered this heartwarming moment with thunderous applause and standing ovations. Holdorf-Schust, who has been with the organization since 1999, was shocked and teary-eyed in the audience. Such poignant moments.
The game continued on a more mundane note. The primary issue for the Lions was the health of star player and attacker Juri Knorr. He had been plagued by a lingering cold, forcing him to miss the home match versus Hannover (27:29) and both the DHB training course and test game in Sweden. Yet, he made a return, coming on as a substitute after 13 minutes. His initial shot was saved by Kiel goalkeeper Mrkva (15), but his second was successful (17'). Thanks to Knorr's contribution, it was 5:5.
Remarkably, the focus was on the goalkeepers, particularly Mikael Appelgren, substitute for Späth, who delivered an impressive first half with 11 saves and an outstanding 52% save percentage. In total, he made 18 saves (43%). Lions struggled to score, with only two goals in the initial ten minutes, mostly due to Appelgren's stellar performance. At the break, the score was 10:12 in favor of Kiel.
THW's key scorer, Rune Dahmke, expressed his discontent over the low scoring rate in an interview with Dyn. He said, "We're making things difficult for ourselves. We're still only two points behind, so it's not the end of the world, but we need to capitalize on our opportunities better."
However, the Lions managed to turn it around and even increased their lead in the end. After losing five of the last six home games, they managed to win against Kiel. This is the first time they achieved such a feat since December 2016.
TV pundit Maik Machulla (47), previously the coach of Flensburg and soon to be in charge of Aalborg, compared the Lions to Borussia Dortmund. He reasoned, "You can see them as a bit like Borussia Dortmund. They're great in Europe and consistently deliver top performances. However, they struggle in the Bundesliga. There's a significant lack of consistency this season, both at home and away. When you're in the midst of a negative streak and feeling the pressure from the dressing room and training, it's hard to escape that rut."
Did the negative remarks from the pundit inspire the Lions? Their backup, Appelgren, acknowledged this: "Now we need to focus on finding consistency. We have the quality, but we need to deliver every game."
Kiel, though, faltered. Coach Filip Jicha (42) said, "Our shooting percentage was exceptionally low throughout the game. If we want to maintain winning performances, we need to rectify this issue."
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Source: symclub.org
