Image: MARKUS PRINZ
At 10.35 p.m. on Wednesday evening, the sensation was complete on Lake Constance. After a 31:30 win in the all-important third final match against Hard, the men of HC Linz AG were crowned champions of the Handball League Austria for the first time since 1996. And they deserved it after a thriller that was almost unbeatable in terms of drama.
Deafening noise, a hall filled to the brim with 2200 spectators, with over 100 Linz fans mingling and making a loud noise – from the first second it was the intense game that was expected. But Linz held their own from the start, after losing 26:32 a week ago and turning things around with a confident 36:28 win at home last Friday.
- Read more: The Linz fairy tale is only missing a happy ending
The Vorarlberg team, winners of the regular season, had to make do without their injured playmaker Ivan Horvat, who is out of action with a torn muscle fiber. Linz also had to get through a brief moment of shock at the beginning. Sharpshooter Mislav Grgic injured his ankle in an action, but was able to continue playing quickly with tape. And his goals helped to ensure that Hard hardly had any air to breathe. Quite the opposite. Because veteran Christian Kislinger, who played his very last game in the HLA, had his sights set particularly sharply on seven-meter throws on this memorable evening, and with goalkeeper Florian Kaiper, Linz’s defense was getting better with every minute, Linz went into halftime with a 16:13 lead and a three-goal lead.
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Image: GEPA pictures/ Oliver Lerch
Source: Nachrichten
