The Borussia Dortmund's women's handball team secured an important victory in the headline fixture of this week's Bundesliga action. The Black & Yellows ran out 31-26 (14-16) winners over rivals TuS Metzingen thanks to a huge improvement in performance after the break and a strong goalkeeping display from Sarah Wachter.

The scenario: After picking up a 22-18 win against Union Halle-Neustadt a week ago, BVB's next assignment was a trip to sixth-placed and newly-crowned cup winners TuS Metzingen on Saturday. The hosts were within touching distance of BVB in the table going into the game, with six points separating the two sides. The South Germans won the reverse fixture 25-24, though BVB had come out on top in seven of the last eight meetings. 

Personnel matters: With the exception of the two long-term absentees, Dana Bleckmann and Lena Degenhardt, coach Henk Groener had a full complement of players at his disposal.

The game: The Öschhalle in Metzingen was completely sold out, with more than 1,000 fans in attendance. It was the first home game for the hosts after their sensational victory in the DHB-Pokal a week ago. And the South Germans came out determined to build on that success. Metzingen quickly took the lead with a brace from cup hero Jana Scheib, before Dagmara Nocun increased the lead to 4-2 with five minutes played. It was clear that Metzingen had the capacity to punish any mistakes BVB made in attack. This was exactly what coach Henk Groener had warned his team about prior to the game.

However, Black & Yellows soon worked their way into the game more and more, going from 5-2 down to draw level at 5-5. The two sides then traded goals, with Meret Ossenkopp netting for BVB, to bring the scoreline to 6-6 with ten minutes played. "Take your time and attack better," said Borussia coach Henk Groener to his players during the first timeout after just under a quarter of an hour. BVB then switched to playing with a double pivot. Down the other end, Dortmund's defence stood firm, with Sarah Wachter a formidable presence in goal. After 20 minutes, the score was tied at 9-9.

The game remained fiercely contested, but BVB were unable to prevent Metzingen from gradually building up a small lead. This was in no small part due to the ten technical errors made by the Black & Yellow handballers in the opening 30 minutes. Four minutes before the break, Metzingen's Julia Behnke made it 14-11, but the visitors from Dortmund rallied to go in at half-time trailing by just one goal (16-15), with Emma Olsson firing home a vital goal shortly before the half-time whistle.

Much to the bemusement of the players and fans, there was a long delay before the referee team of Regner and Köppel returned from the dressing room.

The reason for this was that the score had to be corrected from 16-15 to 16-14. Goal no. 12 for BVB by Lisa Antl was ruled invalid. But BVB did not allow themselves to be thrown off course. Emma Olsson equalised after 90 seconds to make it 16-16, and Meret Ossenkopp and Harma van Kreij then added goals to open up an 18-16 lead within the first four minutes of the second period.

Metzingen looked unsettled, whereas the Black & Yellows were bright and alert. After 40 minutes, Meret Ossenkopp's fifth goal made it 22-19 in BVB's favour. With just a quarter of an hour to go, Borussia led 23-19. This was largely thanks to a much reduced number of mistakes compared to the first half, with the defence only conceding three goals in 15 minutes.

The game was decided a good five minutes before the final whistle thanks to a Zoë Sprengers goal to make it 27-22. Even as they pushed everyone forward, Metzingen were unable to turn the game around. In the end, the impressive Meret Ossenkopp scored her seventh goal to make the final score 31-26 and put the icing on a well-deserved away win

Henk Groener: "I think it was a good game and a deserved win thanks to our improved performance in the second half. We only conceded ten goals after the break. Sarah Wachter made some great saves and the defence was solid. It was a good weekend for us. We won and our rivals from Blomberg dropped points."

Meret Ossenkopp: "The win was really important to stay at the top and in the fight for the European places. It was fun to play in front of this crowd, even if most of the fans were against us."

Outlook: BVB still have two Bundesliga games to play before the three-week international break over Easter. The next home game is against Bayer Leverkusen on 23 March, before the top-of-the-table clash at Thüringer HC on Easter Sunday (31 March).

Borussia Dortmund women's handball:  Lieder, Wachter; Hausherr (1/1), Sprengers (3/1), Kusian, Antl (6), van Kreij (2), Stolle (4), Ossenkopp (7), Sasaki (2), Olsson (3), Rønning, Campos (3)