Vipers win Nordic derby against Odense
Title-holders Vipers Kristiansand claimed their second straight away victory in group B of the DELO EHF Champions League, beating Odense Håndbold in Denmark, 32:27.
GROUP B
Odense Håndbold (DEN) vs Vipers Kristiansand (NOR) 27:32 (15:17)
- Ana Debelic netted five times before the break, helping Vipers to lead by two goals at half-time
- Nora Mørk's string of goals helped the visitors to pull clear at 26:20 midway through the second half
- Mørk and Debelic were Vipers' joint top scorers with seven goals, while Mia Rej netted the same number for Odense
- both Scandinavian teams are now level on eight points, but Vipers are in third place thanks to their better goal difference
- Odense failed to score their 1,000th goal in the DELO EHF Champions League. They need three more goals to reach that landmark
Odense need to improve at home
While the Danish side have won all three away games in the current competition, they have lost three out of four matches on home court, beating only Krim.
The match against Vipers continued the trend – and it is relevant to mention that in last season's play-off round, the Norwegian team defeated Odense in both matches in Denmark. The Danish side need to improve their home record if they want to go far in the competition.
I am very happy with the win today. We are facing a great team that have been really strong this season and it was a difficult game today, so we are very happy that we won. I am very happy about my girls for all 60 minutes, so it was a great game for us.
We had two players out today – that’s a part of the game in handball. I think the rest of the girls did what they could today. Overall, we can be satisfied with some periods of the game today, but of course it is a learning process for us and now we can prepare better for the next game.
