HC Erlangen defends top spot

When the team of Head Coach Robert Andersson entered the Erzgebirgshalle Arena, they were greeted to standing ovations from 300 handball fans from Franconia who had been given the chance to attend this so important away game in the Erzgebirge region thanks to the support of the club’s partners Heitec, Aichinger, Fackelmann and Mauss Bau. The league leaders from Erlangen needed some time to get into the game. Yet the home side was not able to capitalize on these initial difficulties. EHV Aue led just twice throughout the game, namely in the opening spell. The HCE, led by a composed and commanding Martin Stranovsky, began ticking over from the 14th minute on. A 4-goal run in the space of five minutes gave Erlangen a clear lead. After goals by Stranovsky and Theilinger, the team went in at half time with the score at 11:14.

The Swedish Head Coach Robert Andersson certainly imagined a different start to the second half. Aue, which was undefeated at home going into the encounter, tied the scores within four-and-a-half minutes. Nikolai Link then put his side back on the road to victory with three goals. It was also the older of the Link brothers who was to be Erlangen’s top scorer on the evening with eight goals. The HCE produced a strong performance in attack, but things would not have looked so rosy if it had not had a Mario Huhnstock, who produced a fine display between the posts to frustrate EHV Aue on a string of occasions. He also made important saves in crunch time, sometimes with spectacular stops. The HC Erlangen finally ran out deserved winners in Aue and can now look forward to a highlight at home on Saturday: the fans and team will jointly celebrate the traditional Black Night (start: 7 p.m.) and hopefully the eleven straight home win as well.

Robert Andersson commented: “First of all, I’d like to praise our fans. The way they got behind us again today was simply fantastic. I’m happy today because we’ve picked up six points from three tough games.”