Handball League

Linz champions for the first time since 1996 after a thrilling final!

"The club deserves to be champions!"(Bild: GEPA)

HC Linz has won the title for the first time since 1996 in the third and decisive final game of the Austrian Handball League (HLA)! In a highly dramatic final, the Upper Austrians achieved their eighth coup in total in front of over 2000 fans with a 31:30 victory after overtime - away at HC Hard. Linz had already reached the final the previous year.

The "Red Devils" from Vorarlberg, on the other hand, missed out on their first HLA title since 2021. "As expected, it was a pure battle, euphoria, passion on both sides and worthy of a final," said a delighted Moritz Bachmann from Linz on ORF. "The club deserves to be champions," he also recalled the final, which was narrowly lost last year. "What has happened to us in the last three or four years has been first class."

"I was on the verge of losing my nerve!"
His team-mate Florian Kaiper was "speechless". "The way we fought back. It's great that it went into extra time. I'm so happy that we won it," said the goalkeeper, who contributed to the victory with a number of saves. "I was on the verge of losing my nerve," he admitted.

Nico Schnabl spoke on behalf of the Harders: "I'm just empty. I have no idea what to say. It was clear from the start that it was going to be a battle. We made one more mistake at the end." Hard had won the first encounter 32:26, but Linz equalized last Friday in their own arena with a 36:28 victory.

Linz three-goal lead at half-time
Basic round winners Hard were favorites, as the Vorarlberg side had never lost in front of their own fans this season. The home side initially took a 5:3 lead as planned. They then led 12:10 in the first half, before Linz produced a strong finish to take a three-goal lead into half-time.

The visitors kept the pressure on after the break and led by up to four goals. It was not until the score was 17:21 that Harden scored two goals in succession to make it 19:21 and regain hope. The club from Vorarlberg actually managed to equalize with 90 seconds left on the clock to make it 26:26. The home side trailed 26:27 in the highly dramatic finish, but made it into overtime with 30 seconds left on the final buzzer.

Hard then took the lead for the first time since 13:12 in the first half with two goals from Dominik Schmid, the Harder player who ended his long career on Wednesday. However, the score was still 29:29 after the first five minutes of extra time. Linz turned a 27:29 deficit into a decisive 31:29, and even a final goal by the Vorarlberg club did not help.

The result:
Alpla HC Hard - HC Linz AG 30:31 n.V. (27:27, 13:16)
Final score in the series: 1:2