The entire bank stood. They all jumped to their feet to celebrate Vladislav Lets’ goal. On the field, one Berliner after another high-fived the 20-year-old from the second team, who had been substituted on just seconds earlier and had made a tailor-made Bundesliga debut. “Of course we are very happy about that. We still know exactly how it feels,” said captain Paul Drux, who was able to celebrate a 35:25 win against GWD Minden with Lets and the rest of the team.
Until then, however, it was a long way away. Because especially in the first half, the Foxes had more than difficult and made many mistakes unnecessarily. “Maybe we were a bit too hot there,” Drux tried to analyze after the game, “that’s how Minden came into play”. North Rhine-Westphalia, who are in the midst of a relegation battle in sixth place in the table, only managed to turn events in their favor for a short time. The guests also lacked the necessary security on the ball, so that the game moved in waves without either team being able to gain a significant advantage.
After the break, however, the feature film changed. Led by Hans Lindberg, who contributed the foxes’ first five goals after the restart, the lead was gradually extended and victory secured. “At first I was afraid that we would lose the game,” said coach Jaron Siewert in the subsequent press conference. “But fortunately we found the focus and concentration at the right moment at the right time. Then we got dressed and set the pace.”
When Lets came on in the 58th minute, the situation was already so comfortable that it was a good opportunity for the young pivot to gain match practice. And that could be equally important for the remaining two games at HBW Balingen-Weilstetten (Wednesday, 7.05 p.m.) and at home against SG Flensburg-Handewitt (Sunday, 3.30 p.m.). Because the foxes are slowly running out of players. After Nils Lichtlein and Marian Michalczik were no longer able to play in the game this season, Viran Morros is now also out due to a respiratory illness.
But it is particularly problematic in the district. Here, Marc Walter, the planned third circle player, has been missing since the end of the preparation period, when he suffered cartilage damage in his knee shortly after recovering from his cruciate ligament tear and was therefore unable to play a game. Almost three months ago, Johan Koch also injured his shoulder and is also no longer an option. Meanwhile, the newly signed Igor Vori was only able to play four games for the Berliners and is now suffering from neck problems.
Since then, young talents have jumped in, starting with Jann Keno Jacobs and Ron Yunis Dieffenbacher to Vladislav Lets. However, the main burden still lies with Mijajlo Marsenic, who also got help from Paul Drux at times.
Fabian Wiede also caused a shock against Minden when, in the 48th minute, he accidentally twisted his ankle while trying to prevent a counter-attack and lay on the sidelines for minutes with his face contorted in pain. How bad the injury is in the end remains to be seen. However, the fact that the national player had already removed the ice pack when leaving the hall and was able to walk normally again gives hope.
If Wiede fails, the Berliners have only ten regular field players left at the end of the season. A difficult situation for the team, which was able to secure third place in the league thanks to the win against Minden and the simultaneous defeat of SG Flensburg-Handewitt at TBV Lemgo-Lippe (25:30). And although the chances of second place associated with the Champions League are only minimal, since Kiel would have to drop three points in the remaining two games due to the significantly better goal difference, the foxes don’t intend to be accused of anything in the end .
“Of course Fabi’s absence would hurt us a lot. But if that’s the case, we will – as usual – find a solution,” said Siewert. After all, he knows that he can rely on the offspring.
