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Can Mors' defense stand up to what is perhaps the best offense in the league?

Mors concede 20.7 goals at home on average, while Holstebro average 27.3 in away matches, and are also one of the most unpleasant opponents for Mors, whom they've beaten in their last five head-to-head duels and 8 of 9 matches

The Danes have started the second part of their season, 14 of 26 rounds have been completed so far, after which the best eight teams will enter the playoff. A huge battle is under way for those eight spots as 11 teams believe they have what it takes to get there. Mors are one of them, Holstebro even more so, but these two teams are currently only two points apart. With 14 points Mors are sharing eight place with Arhus, while Holstebro's 16 points have them sharing fifth place with Midtjylland, showing how uniform the league is.

Of their 14 points Mors won 10 at home, and their statistic of 145 goals conceded in seven home games gives a phenomenal average of 20.7 per game. They lost the first duel against Holstebro 27-24, with coach Paulsen having big objections to refereeing after the game. He recently extended his contract with Mors for two more seasons. They held a 15-14 lead at halftime and were managing to play an even match with, in theory, a much stronger team. Holstebro are one of the most unpleasant opponents for Mors, whom they've beaten in their last five duels and eight of their last nine matches. They're looking towards the new match after three consecutive victories, and two of those were with 18 (Ribe) and 16 (Odder) goals conceded. It sounds incredible that they managed to beat Odder 15-3 in the second 30 minutes. Young German goalkeeper Christopher Rudeck had a brilliant performance with 19/25 saves, or 76% saves, something unheard of in my 10 years following handball.


- After the close first half in which our defense did not work at all we made some adjustments, setting up Jonas Porup and Asbjørn Madsen in the central block, which helped Rudeck and he completely halted Odder shooting - said coach Paulsen.


-He had a really good match, and his numerous saves became goals through counterattacks, which allowed us to take off and take a big lead.


Many players were in a great rhythm offensively, as Ellebaek scored 5/5, Porup 4/4, the pivots Madsen and Cichosz, had 3/3 each. However, one should not dwell on that match too much, as Odder are bottom ranked in the league, while Mors will now face something completely opposite. In their recent matches Mors struggled on offense, as prior to Odder they won 19-18 vs Ribe at home, and 24-23 away against Odder with a goal after regular time from 9 meters. Holstebro have great goalies and tough defense, and will be quite an obstacle to cross.


Mors are now starting a series of horrible duels; in the remainder of the year they'll face HOLSTEBRO, Aalborgom, KOLDING, Sønderjyske and SKJERN (home matches in capitals). One would not be surprised if they lost all those matches, and any points scored would be huge. Of those five teams, they faced Sønderjyske in the first part of the season, winning 19-18 at home.


Holstebro won just 3 of their 7 away matches, and are coming to this duel after consecutive defeats against Kolding. The home duel was especially crushing, with Kolding limiting them to 19 goals and Marcus Cleverly saving 19 shots with 54% of saves. Holstebro offense was abysmal, led by backs Michael Damgaard (2/9) and Peter Balling (1/5).


They redeemed themselves somewhat by beating Bacau Stiinte (29:28) in Romania, which solidified their home victory and got them to the group stage of the EHF cup in spring (Constanta, Granollers, St. Petersburg). Balling and  Damgaard did much better this time, and were joind by Larholm, with all three scoring 5 goals for a clean win.


They now shift their focus to the national league, where their goal is to win one of the top four spots prior to the playoff in order to carry over some points. Their remaining schedule also holds big challenges (Mors, SKJERN, Arhus, AALBORG, GOG GUDME, Midtjylland - home matches in capitals), making this match against Mors seem as one of the easier.


- Mors are certainly a good team, especially at home. They have a couple of good goalies and we can't allow them to get in the mood- said coach Klavs Bruun Jørgensen.


- We're going to Nykøbing to get two points. The Kolding defeat got us lower in the ranking, but I'm convinced we'll rise now. All the players going to Nykøbing are in rising form, and we should use that- said Jørgensen in an optimistic manner, pleased with good performance in Romania.