National champions of Europe – Women part 1: North-West

Most of the domestic leagues have come to an end and we now approach the draws of the 2016/17 European season. In six parts, the spotlight is shone on each of the national champions and their path to glory. The opening part consists of teams from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Scotland and England. DENMARK First title for Esbjerg The final in Denmark was a remake of last year’s final, as Team Esbjerg and FC Midtjylland were facing each other again. Esbjerg were seeking revenge for the narrow defeat last year and having won the league’s regular season, they were in a good position, playing the second leg at home. FC Midtjylland had the upper hand in the first match in the Ikast Brande Arena, where the home team won a low-scoring game 20:17. The return match in Blue Water Dokken in Esbjerg did not contain any more goals – just as few as the first leg, in fact. After a 6:5 half-time lead for Esbjerg, the scoreboard said 20:17 for the home side once again at the final buzzer. According to the rules of the Danish championship, the teams went straight to penalty shooting, which Esbjerg won 4:2, and the women from the far west of Denmark could celebrate the first Danish championship ever. SWEDEN IK Sävehof for the 8th time in a row For the 8th time in a row, IK Sävehof could lift the trophy as Swedish champions, and just like in the final last year, Skuru IK were the losing finalists. Stockholm based Skuru got the better start to the final and were leading 6:4, but after Sävehof managed to catch up at 8:8, the reigning champions had the momentum, and already at half-time, Sävehof had turned the tables and were leading 13:11. In the second half, the favourites from Partille near Gothenburg increased their half-time lead and won 27:22, so that Henrik Signell could end his time as head coach in Sävehof with another title before taking over as coach of Sweden’s women´s team. Next season, Robert Wedberg will be in charge of Sävehof in their hunt for their ninth successive title. NORWAY Larvik defend the throne, last time with Nora Mørk

Once again, Larvik were in a league of their own in Norway.

The Norwegian record champions added a further triumph to their long list of title.

In fact, they booked two triumphs, and they won the league for the 18th time, and then went on to win the play-off for the 15th time in history.

Larvik’s opponents in the final of the play-offs were Glassverket who were not able to offer much resistance in the two-legged final, though. Glassverket had the home advantage in Drammenshallen for the first leg, but Larvik had no trouble winning by no less than 12 goals, 33:21.

This virtually reduced the return match in the Arena Larvik into a formality, but this did not make the Larvik …

continue reading in source www.eurohandball.com