The Borussia Dortmund women's handballers have climbed up to third position in the Bundesliga table. BVB leapfrogged Thüringer HC and moved to within two points of Bensheim/Auerbach thanks to a hard-fought 22-18 (11-9) victory in their rescheduled clash against SV Union Halle-Neustadt.

The scenario: After the 23-20 triumph against Solingen-Gräfrath prior to the international break, BVB wanted to take the opportunity and improve their chances of finishing in an international spot. The match against SV Union Halle-Neustadt was originally scheduled to take place at the start of January, but the opposition requested a postponement due to illness.

Personnel matters: Coach Henk Groener had all his players at his disposal with the exception of the two long-term injury absentees Dana Bleckmann and Lena Degenhardt.

The match & analysis: The visitors had lost each of their last three matches. The aim was for that to change in Dortmund and so the Wildcats started with a tactical surprise. Halle-Neustadt left their own goal empty when attacking and instead played with an additional outfielder. Cara Reuthal was denied by BVB goalie Tess Lieder from a seven-metre throw in the eighth minute. Alicia Stolle instead upped the score to 4-2 with her second goal.

It was a highly physical match from the beginning, which led to numerous time penalties and disruptions. Halle coach Till Wiechers called a first time-out around the quarter-hour mark after Tess Lieder had thrown a ball into an empty net and made the score 7-4. However, the Dortmund ladies could not pull away decisively. Julia Niewiadomska converted a seven-metre throw to reduce the deficit to 10-9 a minute before the interval, with Harma van Kreij then scoring an important goal from the backcourt to make it 11-9 on the stroke of half-time.

Once the break was over, Halle-Neustadt made a better start to the second half. Emma Hertha fired the opponents into a 12-11 lead three minutes after the interval. Like the match beforehand against Soling-Gräfrath, the Black & Yellows struggled to show their handballing superiority on the court against a team from the bottom third of the table.

The remainder of the match saw few goals. Haruno Sasaki scored to make it 17-15 with 15 minutes to go and extend the Dortmund lead. BVB goalkeeper Sarah Wachter then preserved the 18-17 advantage in a one-on-one against Cara Reuthal. Frida Rønning made it 20-17 with an individual effort (58). The BVB women's handballers ultimately claimed a 22-18 home win in front of 1,120 fans.

Reactions: Coach Henk Groener: "It was an evenly-matched game. We needed the support of the fans and struggled to find the gaps in attack. We saw an outstanding Tess Lieder in the first half and Sarah Wachter made some important saves in the second half."

Sarah Wachter: "Halle-Neustadt held their own very well and made life difficult for us. We were lacking going forward and didn't manage to score any simple goals."

Outlook: The BVB women's handballers will be away to TuS Metzingen on 16 March. Throw-off at the Öschhalle is at 19:30 CET.

Women's handball team:  Lieder (1), Wachter; Hausherr (5/3), Sprengers, Kusian, Antl (3), van Kreij (2), Stolle (5), Ossenkopp (1), Sasaki (2), Olsson (1), Rønning (1), Campos (1)