As of: September 7th, 2023 11:38 p.m
What a derby! In a high-class and exciting handball Bundesliga game in which the lead changed several times, SG Flensburg-Handewitt beat THW Kiel at the last second in front of their home crowd with 28:27 (14:17).
Emil Jakobsen was the celebrated man that evening! In the last second of the game, the left winger scored the 39th Flensburg derby victory and caused the hall to shake. After a three-goal deficit at halftime, the SG players celebrated wildly with their fans. National team captain Johannes Golla was the hosts’ most successful thrower with seven goals, while the two backcourt players Nikola Bilyk and Elia Ellefsen each scored four goals for the THW.
“This is the hottest game of the year,” said a beaming Golla to NDR after the game. “We said at half-time that we needed a little more of everything. We have our fans to thank for the fact that we came back,” he added. There was also praise for Kiel: “We played a great game. In the end, little things decided about two points. That’s very bitter for us because the team deserved more,” said Kiel’s managing director Viktor Szilagyi.
The reigning German champions lost their perfect start to the season of 6-0 points. For Flensburg, the success in the prestigious 109th meeting was an exclamation point in the race for the championship after the 29:31 defeat in Magdeburg and a mixed start to the season so far.
Flensburg starts weakly, Kiel efficiently
At the beginning of this spectacular evening, the hosts initially got in their own way. After an initially balanced initial phase, Flensburg made numerous passing errors and missed throws, which the “Zebras” took advantage of to pull away for the first time with three goals after seven minutes (7:4). SG coach Nicolej Krickau tried to correct from the outside and changed his defensive formation, but the guests remained extremely strong in the backcourt and were able to easily extend their lead to four goals after 20 minutes (12:8).
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Before the break, however, the players from the German-Danish border town stepped on the accelerator again and became more offensive in the half positions. But with Thomas Mrkva in goal, the “Zebras” had strong support in goal. The hosts switched between the posts from Kevin Möller to Benjamin Buric, which paid off: at halftime the THW led with “only” three goals 17:14.
THW invites the SG, Buric makes a sensational save
At the beginning of the second round, the guests opened the door for the SG: The THW failed several times due to Buric and suffered numerous ball losses and offensive fouls. The Flensburg team came out of the locker room with more speed and turned the game and the hall on its head: with a five-point run, they took the lead 19:18 in the 38th minute thanks to Kay Smits’ goal.
THW coach Filip Jicha took a timeout when the score was 19:21 from Kiel’s perspective and ensured that his players’ ears were ringing afterwards. But it didn’t get any better. The state capital team continued to throw weakly and, like last December, Buric became the derby hero at 36:23. Kiel scored three goals within the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Jakobsen has the last word
However, as the game went on, the “Zebras” seemed to regain their composure and the SG ran out of steam. Rune Dahmke equalized in the 49th minute to make it 22:22 and initiated an exciting final phase. Five minutes before the end, Petter Overby gave the state capital a 27:24 lead, which Simon Pytlick equalized with a minute before the end with 27:27. The rest was superiority, Jakobsen and boundless SG celebrations.
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