SC DHfK Leipzig loses at the end of the year

The Bundesliga handball team SC DHfK Leipzig narrowly missed out on a surprise at the end of the first half of the season. The team of coach Runar Sigtryggsson lost 30:32 (18:15) against TSV Hannover-Burgdorf despite a passionate performance. In front of a season record crowd of 6,515 spectators, right winger Staffan Peter was the best scorer for SC DHfK, who go into the upcoming World Cup break in twelfth place in the table with 14:20 points. Hannover, who had their best scorer in Marius Steinhauser (7), finished the first half of the season in fourth place with 26:8 points.

The visitors got off to a furious start and quickly went 4:1 ahead (5th minute). However, Leipzig struck back with a 6:1 run to make it 7:5 in the 12th minute and initiated a fast-paced exchange of blows. While Hanover exploited its enormous quality at the back, the home side excelled on the counter-attack. They were able to pull away slightly by the break because they committed fewer technical mistakes than the club from Lower Saxony.

Ernst sees red

The visitors quickly equalized with three goals in succession at the start of the second half. Leipzig were no longer able to play at such a good pace, but national player Luca Witzke took on more responsibility at the back. The home side led 28:27 after 48 minutes in a game that remained top-class, before Hanover scored three goals in succession to open up a 30:28 gap.

Leipzig equalized once more to make it 30:30 in the 55th minute, but the favorites had more to add in the final phase. In addition, Leipzig's former international Simon Ernst was shown the red card in the final phase (57'). Goalkeeper Simon Gade dashed Leipzig's last hopes of a turnaround with two excellent saves against Lukas Binder.