Unfortunate defeat for SC DHfK Leipzig against VfL Gummersbach

The SC DHfK Leipzig handball team suffered an unfortunate defeat in its first Bundesliga game in 2024. The team of Head Coach Runar Sigtryggsson lost 29:30 (15:15) in front of 4132 spectators at VfL Gummersbach on Monday evening. The best scorer for SC DHfK, which dropped to 14th with 15:25 points, was Matej Klima with eight goals.

The long break due to the European Championship was only noticeable in the early stages of the game. It took them almost four minutes to score their first goal. However, the visitors then scored four more goals in the space of 73 seconds to take a 5:2 lead (6th minute). When Gummersbach also found its rhythm in attack, an open exchange of blows developed. Leipzig led consistently up to 11:8 (15th minute), before VfL tied the scores at 11:11 (19th minute) with three goals in succession after DHfK's defensive boss Marko Mamic was given his second time penalty.

However, Leipzig was not deterred by that and went 20:19 (38th minute) in front after a good start to the second half. However, the increasingly uninspired visitors failed to score a single goal from the field in the following twelve minutes. Gummersbach punished Leipzig's weak spell and pulled 27:22 ahead in the 50th minute. However, Sigtryggsson's players showed great fighting spirit, developed more penetration from the backcourt and tied the scores at 29:29 through Klima with 32 seconds remaining. However, Leipzig's hopes of winning a point were then dashed by national player Julian Köster, who was outstanding in the second half, with his seventh goal ten seconds before the end to make it 30:29 for Gummersbach.