The championship 2008 is pretty much decided. After falling 28-32(10-14) to SC Magdeburg, the SG´s chances to win the title are merely theoretical. The SG is now three points behind THW Kiel while Kiel has to play at Göppingen and at home against Wetzlar. By winning one of its remaining two games, the SG can secure second place though. "We lost too many points against lower-ranked teams", SG left wing Lars Christiansen said after the game.
SG coach Kent-Harry Andersson started the game with two constant changes. Johnny Jensen and Kasper Nielsen stabilized the defence, while Blazenko Lackovic and Ljubomir Vranjes were to bring in their ideas offensively. "That worked out pretty good in our last games", assistant coach Jan Paulsen said. And the SG had a good start, Alexander Petersson made it 3-2. After that, however, the home team gained some momentum, Bartosz Jurecki made it 5-3 while Alexander Petersson twisted his foot and had to leave the game after just seven minutes.
Although it seemed that the SG could stage a comeback, Magdeburg stayed ahead. Andersson called a timeout when the scoreboard said 9-6 in favour of the home team. "We have to play with more patience in the offence", he reminded his team. The players didn´t seem to listen: Marcin Lijewski earned himself a two-minute suspension, Lars Christiansen missed a fast break chance, and Yves Grafenhorst scored a beautiful goal to give the home team a four-goal lead. "We have a lot of ideas", Ljubomir Vranjes said, "they just don´t seem to work."
"We have to build some momentum in our defence", SG business director Fynn Holpert announced. But after trailing by four goals at halftime, the start into the second half wasn´t any better: Damien Kabengele and Alexandros Vasilakis made it 16-11. After that, the momentum took a swing towards the SG. After scoring seven goals in a row, Flensburg had an 18-16 lead, while Magdeburg didn´t score a goal in eight minutes.
After Magdeburg´s coach Michael Biegler called his timeout, the arena saw a different home team again. They scored two goals to tie the game, a couple of minutes later, Yves Grafenhorst even made it 29-26. The SG couldn´t stage another comeback.
SC Magdeburg – SG Flensburg-Handewitt 32-28 (14-10)
SC Magdeburg: Erevik, Heinevetter (18/1 saves) – Theuerkauf (4), Grafenhorst (5), van Olphen, Sprenger (5/2), Jurecki (4), Kabengele (5/1), Vasilakis (7), Stiebler, Tönnesen (2)
SG Flensburg-Handewitt: Beutler (13/2 saves), Sijan (1 save; from 51.) – Lackovic (4), Nielsen (3), Mogensen (3/1), Holmgeirsson (1), Jensen (1), Christiansen (9/5), Vranjes (1), Johannsen (2), Lijewski (2), Petersson (1), Knudsen (1)
Referees: Dang/Zacharias (Mainz); Suspensions: 12:10 Minutes (Kabengele 4, Vasilakis 2, Jurecki 2, Grafenhorst 2, Stiebler 2 – Lijewski 4, Lackovic 2, Knudsen 2, Jensen 2); Penalty throws: 5/3:7/6 (Beutler saves against Kabengele and Theuerkauf – Heinevetter saves against Christiansen); Attendance: 6008
Timeline: 0:1 (1.), 2:3 (4.), 5:3 (7.), 5:5 (9.), 6:6 (11.), 10:6 (18.), 10:9 (25.), 11:10 (26.) – 15:10 (31.), 16:11 (32.), 16:18 (40.), 18:18 (41.), 20:19 (44.), 22:20 (47.), 24:22 (49.), 24:24 (50.), 26:24 (52.), 27:26 (55.), 30:26 (57.), 31:28 (59.)
