"Just good": Women's handballers take first step towards final | OneFootball

The outcome was decided in the phase between the 40th and 45th minutes, when BVB upped the score to 26-22 and pulled into a four-goal lead. In front of 1,020 enthusiastic fans at Halle Wellinghofen, Borussia settled into their stride in the second half with the outstanding Lois Abbingh as their driving force.

The scenario: BVB had only qualified for the semi-finals after three matches against TuS Metzingen, while HSG Blomberg-Lippe had directly booked their spot in their final four thanks to two victories against VfL Oldenburg. The two league clashes in the main round were even affairs. BVB narrowly won the home game in Dortmund by a 22-21 scoreline in December, but suffered a 29-25 defeat in Blomberg.

Personnel matters: As was previously the case in the quarter-final decider against Metzingen, head coach Henk Groener had to do without a whole host of standout performers. "We're playing without five," explained Groener prior to kick-off. More specifically: Lena Hausherr has already been out for months with a torn cruciate ligament. Goalie Sarah Wachter, like pivot Emma Olsson, is suffering from a long-term knee injury. Captain Alicia Langer broke her finger in the game in Metzingen. And Lena Degenhardt is taking a break due to pain in the knee she had surgery on.

The match & analysis:

The outcome of their main round clashes made it clear that this would be an even encounter. On Saturday evening, a second-placed BVB went up against a third-placed opponent with the league's best defence. BVB got off to a spectacular start, let nothing through defensively, sat extremely deep and looked highly alert. By the 10-minute mark, BVB led 3-1 thanks to goals from Lisa Antl, Guro Hosebo and a seven-metre throw from Lois Abbingh. After Abbingh had increased the lead to 4-1 by traversing the entire court and slotting into an empty net, visiting coach Steffen Birkner called a first time-out and called upon his players to take the game in their stride.

And that they did. Due to their numerical inferiority and after numerous losses of possession and chances squandered against Melanie Veith in the HSG goal, BVB had thrown away their lead. After 12 minutes, Ona Vegué Pena levelled at 6-6. The Spaniard then converted a seven-metre throw to put Blomberg-Lippe 7-6 up. The game was completely open again and BVB's initial momentum had dwindled. After their initial difficulties, HSG worked their way into the game during the course of the first half thanks to their strong defending and outstanding goalie Melanie Veith. Carmen Campos levelled at 10-10 after 20 minutes.

It developed into an intensely contested match by both sides in which neither of the two teams gave anything away, both adopted a high-tempo approach and both had strong keepers between the posts. HSG spurned the chance to pull three goals ahead. Deborah Lassource then cut the deficit to 15-14 before Dana Bleckmann levelled at 15-15 in the 29th minute and Kelly Vollebregt put BVB 16-15 in front a matter of seconds later. Laetitia Quist then hit back with a strong free throw to make it 16-16 at half-time.

What was striking was that it was not the backcourt players Nieke Kühne and Laetitia Quist that BVB could not get under control, but rather the Spaniard Ona Vegué Pena, who caused BVB major headaches by scoring seven goals in 30 minutes.

It was the same story after the break. High tempo, lots of chaos, very rigorous. BVB initially continued to have problems in attack but managed to level at 20-20 through Carmen Campos (35). And they then pulled three goals in front of their unsettled Blomberg counterparts. Everything that hadn't worked before the break was now right. Lassource, Abbingh and Maraike Kusian made it 24-21 (40). Goalie Zoe Ludwig was powerless. The hall burst into life and the fans went wild, as Frenchwoman Deborah Lassource made it 25-21 shortly afterwards and goalkeeping coach Clara Woltering came onto the court for a seven-metre throw. Blomberg were bewildered, shocked and made life difficult for themselves. Was it now all but over?

To a certain extent, it was. By the time Lois Abbingh scored again to make it 28-22 at the latest, the joy knew no bounds. BVB virtually had the victory already wrapped up in the 50th minute when Vegué Pena missed a seven-metre throw and Deborah Lassource immediately made it 31-25. That lead would not change. Carmen Campos scored from a seven-metre throw to make it 37-30 and BVB came away from their first semi-final against Blomberg-Lippe as highly deserved winners.

Reactions:

Lois Abbingh: "We had set out to play with the energy from the previous week. In the second half, we implemented what we had set out to do. The introduction of Clara Woltering demonstrated how important every single one of us is. The atmosphere was simply great; I hope to experience an atmosphere like that even more often."

Henk Groener: "It was just good. 37 goals speak for themselves. It did get tense at times, partly because goalkeeper Melanie Veith cancelled out many of our chances. But we were able to step on the gas for 60 minutes. From the 40th minute onwards, we managed to pick up the pace again. Blomberg had no answer in that phase."