At the end of the group phase in the 3rd handball league, HSG Krefeld Niederrhein celebrated a 36:23 (19:12) win against ASV Westfalen-Hamm II in the Glockenspitzhalle on Saturday Spectators best advertising for the promotion round starting in two weeks. Man of the evening was left winger Nick Braun, with 12 goals the best thrower of the hosts.
Coach Mark Schmetz and the two players Philipp Dommermuth and Christopher Klasmann will certainly not be welcomed very warmly when HSG Krefeld Niederrhein play their last away game against the Schalksmühler Dragons in the western division of the 3rd handball league on Saturday (7.30 p.m.). The trio had left the Sauerland before the season after quarrels with the board.
HSG Krefeld Niederrhein is making great strides towards the runners-up position in the western division of the 3rd division and thus towards the promotion round to the 2nd division. In the penultimate home game of the group stage, the Eagles celebrated a comfortable 33:27 (13:9) win against LIT 1912 II. In front of 1201 spectators there was not a minute of the encounter in doubt about victory. Mike Schulz was the team’s best thrower with eight goals, five of which were penalty kicks.
It was the 20th victory in the 20th game: After beating TV Borken 32:28, VT Kempen is on the verge of promotion to the Oberliga. The team of Jürgen Witzke and Stefanie Schuhmacher is only one point away from the remaining six games. Against Borken the handball players of VT Kempen had to give their all. Only in the final phase did the team around Melina Witzke, who scored ten goals, turn the game in their favor. During the guest appearance next Sunday (3 p.m.) in Dinslaken at HSG Hiesfeld/Aldenrade II, promotion to the Oberliga should be sealed.
Klasmann promises to make amends for the spectators on Saturday: “You will see a completely different team that plays with heart.” Regarding the pressure of having to win the game, he says: “It may be that we want too much. But we’ve all experienced enough that we can assess it very well. Of course the pressure is there. We don’t necessarily have to sweep Opladen out of the hall with a lead of 10 or 20 goals. The important thing is to win the thing. Then we can start the next week calmly.”
