By Nicklas Thygesen
Skjern Handball did not get the desired start to the Bambuni Men's League, as the Greens on Tuesday evening lost 35-29 away to GOG.
The match was also Hugo Stuivers’ first league game in the Skjern jersey. After the match, the line player pointed in particular to the start of the two halves as a decisive reason for the defeat.
– We were run over in the first seven to ten minutes of both halves and fell far behind. Then it is hard to have to work our way back each time, says Hugo Stuivers.
Skjern nevertheless fought their way back into the match after a difficult start and finished the first half strongly.
– We finished the first half really well, and several times we were close to getting to a draw, but we weren't quite sharp enough. We wanted to come out with energy in the second half, but then we made some mistakes again and fell behind. After that they unfortunately could hold on to the lead, says Stuivers.
Desire for revenge ahead of Ringsted
Although the league opener ended without points, Stuivers says the focus is already on the next task.
– There is plenty of desire for revenge now. We have a match against Ringsted next, and we must take the anger over losing the first match with us. We must use it to win the next one.
The line player also highlights GOG’s speed and strong one-on-one play as something Skjern had difficulty handling.
– GOG is a very skilled team. They constantly seek man-to-man duels. We have a bit more physicality than them, so maybe we should have gone harder at them in the duels. But they got past us a bit too easily, and then we couldn't help our goalkeeper sufficiently, says Hugo Stuivers.
