Like Errol Flynn and his regiment, Irudek Bidasoa Irun fell with his boots on. General Custer was left without weapons to fight against … the Indians and the Gipuzkoan team, without time to finish assaulting the fortress of the current double champion of the European League. The defeat means that Flensburg-Handewitt goes to the Main Round with four points and Alex Mozas’s team without any, which will face Kiel (four points) and Montpellier (zero) in February and March. The Germans won the duel between the two yesterday in Germany 27-18.
The Irundarra team had a superb start to the game, as if it were prolonging its great performance against Atlético Valladolid, but against a higher-class rival and in a different scenario.
After the initial 1-0 of the Germans, Piotr Mielczarski, who is being one of the sensations of this season, launched three missiles, each one more powerful and positioned, scoring three goals from 1-4, which was the greatest advantage for the Irundarras. It was only repeated once, at 3-6, with almost complete success in the shot – 6 out of 7, the German defense blocked a shot from Mujika –, and a couple of interventions from Leo Maciel.
Flensburg
Moller (16 paradas, 2 pen.), Pytlick (5), Golla (7), Kirkelokke (6), Grgic (10, 2 pen.), Horgen (3), Volz (5, 2 pen.) –siete inicial–, Rithaphorn (1), Detlefsen, Tonnesen, Knutzen, Blagotinsek (1) y Novak
38
–
35
Pictures Bidasoa Irun
Maciel (7 stops, 2 pen.), Jevtic (3), Peciña, González, Mujika (7), García (5, 3 pen.), Valles – starting seven – Skrzyniarz, Cavero (3, 2 pen.), Furundarena, Esteban Salinas (2), Barreto, Mielczarski (5), Nevado (5), Da Silva, Nieto (5, 1 pen.).
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Marker every five minutes
1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-11, 12-14, 16-17 (rest); 19-18, 22-20, 27-24, 30-27, 35-32 and 38-35. -
Referees
The Norwegians Andreas Daviknes Borge and Magnus Muri Nygrem, who excluded the local Blagotinsek and the visitor Jevtic. They showed a direct red card to Bidasotarra Da Silva (m. 20).
The German team realized that Irudek Bidasoa Irun’s ordeal was real. But if Artaleku didn’t get nervous by trailing for a long time, even four down with ten minutes remaining, it caused them less stress to be one or two goals behind at that point in the duel.
In the 20th minute Matheus da Silva saw a direct red card, a significant loss in defense for the remainder of the game. Although the next two minutes ended with 1-1, Flensburg was already getting closer and managed to tie at 10, 11 and 12. But they could not take the lead.
In part, due to the impetus and success of Julen Mujika, another who is sweet and who scored four of the five goals for the Bidasotarras after 10-10. On the local side there was also a player who was upset that the break went to half-time, Kirkelokke, author of three consecutive goals, the ones prior to Golla’s 16-17 score in the last play, and five in that first half.
The Moller effect
The Teutonic squad is full of stars. Grigc scored ten goals, Golla was a torment in the pivot (seven goals) and Pytlick directed with mastery (five), but the most relevant performance was that of goalkeeper Kevin Moller, who finished with sixteen saves, compared to seven by Leo Maciel. And this time it is not only the number of interventions that matters, but above all the moment in which he signed them. After the break, the former Barça player made six saves in nine minutes. From one of them came the counterattack with which Flensburg-Handewitt took the lead for the first time, 19-18. Again a stop and counterattack to make it 20-19 and, then, a saved penalty for Gorka Nieto. The influence of the Dane was decisive in going from 17-18 to 22-19 in the 39th minute. Three later the difference rose to four for the first time, 25-21, a margin that was maintained until 27-23.
Shortly before, after time-out, Mozas had reinstated Maciel in goal and began attacking with seven, a weapon that, this time, gave good results. Irudek Bidasoa Irun searched and found the pivots, Esteban Salinas (two) and Marko Jevtic (one) forced the penalties that Dariel García took advantage of. And Jevtic and Salinas, with a counter from Iñaki Cavero in between, scored the goals of a 0-3 partial that narrowed the difference to one goal, 27-26 with 13 minutes remaining.
The heavy artillery of the German team came to the rescue, with a 4-1 (two from Golla and one from Pytlick and Grigc) to recover the four leads. Like in 32-28. And not even because of that did the Iundarras give up, as they got within one again, 35-34, with four minutes remaining. Only when Golla, after recovering the ball and without a goalkeeper from 25 meters, scored 37-34, could the German team, which has gone 22 consecutive games without losing in Europe, breathe.
