The BVB women’s handballers battled valiantly for 60 minutes. That makes it all the more bitter that they let a deserved draw against Dunarea Braila slip out of their hands in the final six seconds. The Dortmund ladies suffered a 25-24 (14-15) defeat in front of 1,021 spectators at the Helmut-Körnig-Halle in the first leg of the third and final qualifying round for the European League.

The scenario: After the strong third-place finish in the Final Four in Graz, Austria in May, BVB only started the current campaign in the third qualifying round for a place in the group stages of the European League. The Romanian outfit had beaten their Icelandic opponents from Valur by only one goal in the first leg of their second-round tie, but overran them in the return fixture in Romania.

Personnel matters: Nobody was missing from the BVB squad with the exception of the two long-term injury absentees Dana Bleckmann and Lena Degenhardt (both torn cruciate ligament). However, Zoë Sprengers, Emma Olsson and captain Alicia Stolle were not yet at full strength after recently recovering from illness and injury respectively.

The match & analysis: BVB started with international experience in defence. Henk Groener opted for the Dutchwoman Tess Lieder in defence, with Emma Olsson alongside Harma van Kreij in the central block. That was to ensure stability. Alicia Stolle and Zoë Sprengers initially started on the bench. But little came off for BVB to begin with. The Borussia ladies looked nervous in attack against the visitors’ robust defence. Braila led 4-2 by the six-minute mark. BVB then got back into it but missed a chance to make it 5-4 when Lena Hausherr failed to beat goalkeeper Elena Serban with a seven-metre throw.

“There will probably be more opportunities for us at home, because a lion’s den will be awaiting us away from home,” Borussia coach Henk Groener had said in the run-up to the game. But the plan was not so easy to implement. By the 20th minute, Braila held a 10-8 lead.

However, BVB held firm and levelled the scores at 13-13 three minutes before the break with three goals in a row from Stolle, Ossenkopp and Sprengers. When goalkeeper Tess Lieder then also saved her second seven-metre throw, the Dortmund ladies took their chance via Frida Rønning, who put her team 14-13 ahead with a lovely throw. The half-time whistle sounded with the score 15-14, after Haruno Sasaki had cleverly converted a Lisa Antl assist six seconds before half-time.

BVB started the second half with Alicia Stolle making it 16-14 from distance. But the number of mistakes remained high – fortunately, on both sides. With only seven minutes played and the score at 16-16, Henk Groener felt compelled to call another time-out in order to bring order to his team’s play. With 10 minutes of the second period played, BVB had only managed to score two goals through Frida Rønning and Alica Stolle, so it was just as well that goalkeeper Sarah Wachter saved a seven-metre throw in the 45th minute to keep BVB within striking distance. Sprengers then equalised at 19-19 at the other end courtesy of her second successful seven-metre throw, with Lisa Antl then making it 20-19 (48).

It remained close until the final whistle. Spaniard Carmen Campos scored the all-important goal to make it 23-21 with five minutes remaining and Maraike Kusian then netted to make it 24-23 with 60 seconds to go, only for Braila to level at 24-24 immediately via a seven-metre throw and then score to seal the 25-24 victory with two seconds on the clock.

Reactions: Coach Henk Groener: “It was a great atmosphere in the hall. The more than 1,000 fans supported us brilliantly from the first to the last minute. We fought passionately but weren’t alert enough in the final seconds when we conceded the goal for 25-24. But a one-goal deficit is nothing. We’ll be playing in a lion’s den next week. We can do better and have to improve our chance conversion. Then we’ll be in with a chance in Braila. We performed strongly for long stretches; our defence was better after the break. We had Braila under control but then missed good opportunities and were far too hectic.”

Andreas Kuno (Sporting Director): “We played a really good game and defended compactly with a strong performance from Tess Lieder in goal. The many mistakes combined ultimately led to our defeat. But we saw that we can win despite our personnel shortage.”

Rupert Thiele (Head of the BVB Women’s Handball Department): “It was not without excitement. The last six seconds were a shame, of course. But our spirit was sensational. It’s not impossible to win in Braila.”

Outlook: The Bundesliga campaign will continue this Wednesday 15 November with a home game against SU Neckarsulm (throw-off 19:30 CET, Halle Wellinghofen). BVB will head to Braila – which is located approximately 200 kilometres north of Bucharest in the vicinity of the Moldovan border – for the return fixture on Sunday 19 November.

Women’s handballers: Lieder, Wachter; Hausherr (2), Sprengers (3/3), Kusian (3), Antl (4), van Kreij, Stolle (2), Ossenkopp (3), Sasaki (2), Olsson, Rønning (4), Egeling, Campos (1)