The Borussia Dortmund women’s handballers claimed an important away win in the Bundesliga on Saturday evening: Henk Groener’s team ran out 29-27 (14-16) victors away to Bayer Leverkusen and did not let themselves be knocked off course by a difficult start.

The scenario: BVB travelled to Leverkusen in third place, while Bayer were in mid-table. The two teams had already gone head-to-head in the DHB-Pokal around one month earlier. BVB suffered a home defeat to the Werkself that day. 

Personnel matters: As was the case for the home game against TuS Metzingen a week ago, coach Henk Groener was without four regular players. The absence of Dana Bleckmann, Lena Degenhardt and Alicia Stolle meant the team were rather short in the personnel department at the back of the court. Zoe Sprengers was also not yet available following her muscle fibre tear.

The match & analysis: Driven on by their strong defence, Leverkusen repeatedly managed to score easy goals in the opening minutes. The Werkself applied a lot of tempo, while Dortmund chased the game and were a tick too late on one or two occasions. Leverkusen opened up a four-goal lead for the first time when they went 8-4 up in the 12th minute, prompting BVB coach Henk Groener to call a time-out.

The Bayer team subsequently established their four-goal lead and Groener opted for a change of personnel between the sticks. Tess Lieder was replaced by Sarah Wachter, who immediately thwarted a throw from Leverkusen and followed that up with more saves. The introduction of Haruno Sasaki at the back of the court brought additional composure to the Black & Yellows’ play. The team gradually worked their way back into the game in the closing stages of the first period, with the score at 16-14 and the deficit only two goals at the break.

Borussia looked much more stable and seized the initiative at the beginning of the second half. Meret Ossenkopp fired her team into the lead for the first time following a fast counter-attack in the 38th minute (20-19), while Sarah Wachter saved some free throws from the Leverkusen players. When BVB found themselves down two players after time penalties against Emma Olsson and Lisa Antl, the keeper saved a seven-metre throw and put her team on the path to victory.

At the other end, Lena Hausherr kept her nerve from the line on several occasions in the closing stages and even scored a beautiful lob. With further goals from Harma van Kreij and Carmen Campos, BVB managed to keep the Werkself at bay and ultimately celebrated a deserved victory.

The win puts Borussia in third place in the table with a 10-2 points tally – one point behind the leading duo of Bietigheim and Bensheim, who are level on points – with six matches played.

Reactions:

Coach Henk Groener: “We demonstrated unbelievable spirit. The team improved even more today compared to the game against Metzingen. Sarah Wachter stopped many shots, made some very important saves, and we had the courage to play at tempo as well. I think the win was deserved.” 

Sarah Wachter: “That was a mega important win for us. We had to fight until the end in order to win. But after such a combative performance, a victory feels even better. Today we showed that we want to win every game despite the many injuries.”

Outlook: The Bundesliga will take a break next week, with the Day of Handball set to take place in Munich on 5 November. As part of the event, the Germany women’s national team – including Lisa Antl and Sarah Wachter – will take on Hungary. Three days later, BVB will play host to Thüringer HC in the Bundesliga.

BVB women’s handballers: Lieder, Wachter; Campos (2), Kusian (3), Ossenkopp (4), Olsson (1), Rønning (2), Antl (1), Sasaki (2), Hausherr (8/5), Egeling, von der Wiede, van Kreij (6)