For the handball players of SV Union Halle-Neustadt, the air is getting thinner and thinner in the fight to stay in the Bundesliga. The team from Halle lost 26:28 (14:14) at penultimate-placed HSV Solingen-Gräfrath on Saturday, squandering a five-goal lead midway through the second half. After their ninth defeat of the season, the team from Halle are now just three points clear of the relegation zone. Pia Adams (8/2) played the biggest part in the hosts' success. Lilli Röpcke (5) scored the most goals for SV Union.
For 40 minutes, the two teams from the basement fought out an open exchange of blows. Halle then pulled away from 18:18 (38') to 24:19 (46'). However, this cushion was not enough to secure victory. The club from Halle showed nerves of steel in the final phase and repeatedly failed to score against Solingen's goalkeeper Katja Grewe. The hosts turned the game around in the final twelve minutes after trailing 21:25 with a 7:1 run and thus increased SV Union's relegation worries.
