European Cup "rocked"
Out despite gala – Fivers scratched at sensation
What an evening! The Fivers were on the verge of a sensation against Olympiakos in the European Cup on Saturday and actually seemed to make up for the 21:30 away defeat in the second leg at home. The team from Margarden led by eight goals in the final (35:27), but in the end they got an honorable farewell with a 35:29 victory.
35:27 by Philipp Gangel. Eight goals ahead. The Hollgasse was a madhouse. Can you believe it? The Fivers only needed one goal in the final minute to make up for the -9 from the first leg in Chalkida. The sensation of advancing to the third round of the European Cup was within their grasp. But then last year's finalists Olympiakos Piraeus conceded two more goals, which ultimately resulted in a 35:29 triumph - and thus "only" a very honorable farewell from the international stage.
It was clear that coach Peter Eckl was satisfied with his team's performance, which led 19:15 at the break. "We put in a great performance and can be proud of ourselves. But we didn't manage to beat a very strong opponent in 120 minutes." Although: 60 of those 120 minutes in Hollgasse and 47 in Chalkida, when they only trailed by -1, were an advertisement for the Margaretner Handball School. "The positive thing is that my boys always believed in the second leg, so the opponents didn't even know what to do." And then there were the players who hit top form at home after the away duel. Fabian Glätzl, for example, who was the 7-meter king and top scorer with 12 goals. Or keeper Jan David, who produced an outstanding 41 percent save rate.
In addition, one player who returned from illness in the home match did the team a lot of good: captain Marin Martinovic. "We played a superb 120 minutes, showed a lot of passion in the second leg and believed that nothing is impossible," said the coach. "And that against the best team I've played against at this competition level." And Olympiakos? Was happy that it was over and that they had reached the third round. "We didn't underestimate the Fivers, they're a good team," said keeper Kotanidis Konstantinos, who said of the club's goals: "We want to be a big team in Europe and at least make it to the final."
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