The SG Flensburg-Handewitt had a perfect final game at home. The 28-23 (14-13) victory against FA Göppingen was enough to give the SG the edge in the fight for fifth place in the standings. Moreover, there were a lot of emotions with some players playing for the last time in front of the fans at Campushalle. Goalkeeper Dan Beutler had a very good game after he was part of the SG team for eight seasons. "It was an honour for me to be part of this team for such a long time," the Swede said. "The SG will always have a special place in my heart."
Even though the SG had to cope with no less than five injured players (Carlén, Svan Hansen, Mocsai, Knudsen and Mogensen), the team put up a great fight. Ljubomir Vranjes tried an offensive defence formation early on. "We wanted to destroy their rhythm," he said afterwards and it was a successful idea. At 7-5, the home team was up by two goals and Göppingen´s coach Velimir Petkovic called his timeout.
Dan Beutler made some key saves early on and he even saved three attempts in less than 60 seconds. In the offence, Petar Djordjic scored his first goal after he returned from a broken arm to make it 11-9. At halftime, however, the SG only had a one-goal lead as the visitors kept the game close.
After the break, the SG had a much better start, getting away to a five-goal lead at 19-14. Anders Eggert scored some of his 14 goals overall in this span, bringing him to within one goal of the Bundesliga´s leading scorer, Magdeburg´s Robert Weber.
"I´m very happy with the game, it was a great ending to this season at home", Vranjes said after the game. The day was concluded by some more celebrations as Dan Beutler, Lasse Boesen, Patrik Fahlgren and Oscar Carlén received some farewell presents.
SG Flensburg-Handewitt – FA Göppingen 28-23 (14-13)
SG Flensburg-Handewitt: Beutler (19/2 saves) – Karlsson, Eggert (14/7), Fahlgren (4), Djordjic (2), Heinl (2), Szilagyi (4), Boesen (1), Bastian (1)
FA Göppingen: Tahirovic (6 saves), Weiner (4 saves) – Kneule (1), Oprea (2), Thiede (1), Schöne (2), Späth (1), Kaufmann (4), Mrvaljevic (3/2), Haaß (2/1), Horak (3), Kozlina (3), Anusic, Häfner (1)
Referees: Methe/Methe (Vellmar); Suspensions: 12:10 Minutes (Heinl 4, Szilagyi 4, Boesen 4 – Schöne 4, Kozlina 2, Anusic 2, Horak 2); Penalty throws: 8/7:5/3 (Eggert hits the post – Beutler saves against Mrvaljevic and Haass); Attendance: 6300 (sold out)
Timeline: 1:2 (3.), 3:4 (6.), 5:4 (7.), 7:5 (12.), 8:7 (14.), 9:7 (20.), 9:9 (22.), 11:9 (25.), 11:11 (27.), 12:12 (29.), 13:13 (30.) – 16:13 (33.), 19:14 (37.), 20:16 (43.), 22:17 (44.), 24:18 (47.), 25:19 (51.), 26:20 (52.), 26:22 (56.), 28:22 (59.)
