The FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (Hungary) defeated Storhamar Handball Elite (Norway) to remain in second place in the EHF Women’s Handball Champions League.
Rail Cargo Hungary defeated Storhamar 26-25 in the 12th round of Group A of the 2024/25 EHF Women’s Handball Champions League at Erd Arena in Hungary on the 8th (local time).
This kept Rail Cargo Hungary in second place with 10 wins and 2 losses (20 points), while Storhamar dropped one spot to sixth place with 3 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses (8 points).
Rail Cargo Hungary led the team’s attack with four goals each from Emily Bölk, Orlane Kanor, Antje Angela Malestein and Andrea Lekic. Goalkeeper Laura Glauser contributed to the victory with seven saves.
At Storhamar, Aniken Obaidli scored nine goals, Kjerstein Bogue Solas scored five, and Kristin Benn scored four. Goalkeeper June Cecilie Krogh had nine saves and Eli Marie Raasok had seven, but it did not prevent his team from losing.
In this match, Rail Cargo Hungary scored 16 goals in the first half, making it the 7000th goal in the EHF Champions League and the fourth team to achieve that mark.
The 26-25 victory was Rail Cargo Hungaria’s 10th of the season, making it the second season in team history to record 10 or more wins since finishing second in the 2022/23 season.
Storhamar tried to counterattack by showing his best performance in the second half at a time when he was in fierce competition to advance to the playoffs.
Trailing 16-10 in the first half, Storhamar cut the gap by allowing just 10 runs in the half-hour of the second half. In particular, he scored four goals in a row six minutes before the end of the game to tie the score 24-24.
However, Rail Cargo Hungary strengthened its defense by allowing just one run in the final 6:31 of the game, and Emily Wölk and Daria Dmitrieva scored crucial points to seal the victory. The victory allowed Rail Cargo Hungary to continue to pressure the top-ranked Mets and seek the lead in the remaining two games.
Rail Cargo Hungaria coach Alan Heine told EHF, “When I was ahead by six goals, I was too careless and allowed Storhamar to score too easily. Our goal was to win, so we had no other option for the last five minutes.”
[Kim Yongpil, MK Sports Reporter]
