ThSV Eisenach wins East derby against SC DHfK Leipzig

The handball players of ThSV Eisenach have once again won the explosive East derby against SC DHfK Leipzig. In front of 6,000 spectators in the sold-out Leipzig Arena, the Thuringians won 31:29 (13:14) on Sunday and achieved their first Bundesliga victory since December 23. The best scorers for DHfK were national team players Franz Semper (7 goals) and Luca Witzke (6). Malte Donker and Peter Walz (4 each) were the best scorers for the Thuringians.

The first leg alone made the game particularly explosive. The newly promoted club won 25:24 before Leipzig lodged a protest. Six seconds had allegedly been lost on the clock. The appeal was rejected by the second chamber of the DHB Federal Sports Court.

Now the team from Wartburg provoked the fans before the game with a fan shirt with the inscription "What is green and red at the push of a button? A Leipzig player in six seconds." DHfK managing director Karsten Günther, who had an extra stand erected for the second leg for the 1,000 or so Thuringians who had traveled with him, did not like that at all. "If I'm invited to a party, I wouldn't wear a shirt that says the host is shit."

There was a lot of aggression in the encounter right from the start. Semper opened up the first two-goal lead with a double strike (4:2/10th). Lukas Binder increased the lead to 8:5 (16'). After a time penalty for Marko Mamic, the Thuringians equalized again in just three minutes (9:9). However, the Saxons took a 14:13 lead into the break thanks to the strong performance of Witzke. At the other end, Manuel Zehnder, who leads the league's scoring charts, was hardly able to make any impact for the visitors.

After the break, Runar Sigtryggsson's DHfK team was wide awake. It scored three goals in succession to take a 17:13 lead. However, they lacked confidence and composure. As a result, Eisenach kept coming back and tied the scores at 22:22 (44') and took a 26:25 lead in the 51st minute, which Moritz Ende (52') increased to 27:25 with a direct shot from his own circle. After two goalkeeper saves by Matija Spikic, ThSV even stretched the gap to 28:25 and held on for its first victory since December 2023.