St. Gallen, Switzerland – SG Fides St. Gallen defeated league leaders Handball Emmen 38-37 in a tightly contested match at the Athletik-Zentrum on Saturday, February 23, 2026. The victory came despite a demanding schedule for Fides, marking their third game within eight days.
Elia Tarneller proved pivotal for Fides, scoring the opening goal just 40 seconds into the match and ultimately contributing 13 goals to his team’s total. Early in the game, Tarneller accounted for six of Fides’ first ten scores, prompting an early timeout from the Emmen coach as Fides established a three-goal lead.
The first half remained fiercely competitive, with Emmen responding to level the score at 11-11 before both teams traded timeouts. The teams entered halftime tied at 17-17.
Emmen gained a slight advantage early in the second half, leading 19-17, but Tarneller and Robert Weber quickly equalized. The lead shifted again before Simon Locher secured a lead for Fides at 41 minutes. The game remained high-scoring and closely fought until the final moments, with Fides ultimately securing a narrow victory.
The match was played before a crowd of 177 spectators. Spengler and Woschitz served as referees, with Vitzthum as delegate. Fides received four two-minute penalties, while Emmen incurred two.
SG Fides’ roster included players such as Goran Aleksic (goalie trainer), Daniel Berger (assistant trainer), Lukas Egli, Julian Schlachter, Fabio Gahler, Joel Wick, Lorin Böhler, Elia Tarneller, Julian Rauch (head coach), Damian Pfründer, Adrian Halbeisen, Jonas Schmid, Konrad Wurst, Marko Čorić, Lukas Linde, Alexander Manser, Basil Zeltner and Robert Weber. Several players were unavailable for Fides, including Gian Tarneller, Halbeisen (injured), Böhler, Manser, Egli, Schäpper, and Jochum.
Handball Emmen’s team was missing several players as well, including Mastrocola, Zimmermann, Bühler, Flückiger, Epp, Sfar Gandoura, Roos, Weingartner and Fuchs.
Fides will continue their season next week with an away game against BSV Stans in central Switzerland.
