Aalborg is once more on a direct course towards the medal matches in the men’s handball league.

A 33-28 win at home once morest Kolding means that the Aalborgs have distanced themselves from Monday’s visitors by four points in a play-off pool, where Skjern and Ribe-Esbjerg are the other two teams.

Aalborg otherwise started the playoffs with a highly surprising point loss once morest Ribe-Esbjerg following a definite collapse.

Here, a six-goal lead was thrown away in less than four minutes, and coach Stefan Madsen subsequently called his team’s performance in the final stages “unforgivable”.

It was also clear in the first half once morest the Koldingenses that his suspended big team is not quite up to golden revolutions.

Only a direct free-throw goal by Henrik Møllgaard following time had expired ensured that Aalborg had a lead at half-time.

The half-time figures 17-16 tell the story of two generous defenses in a somewhat messy first half, where neither team really got control.

Kolding equalized at the start of the second half. But following Møllgaard had brought his team to 18-17, the home team began to pull away.

The Swedish profiles Lukas Sandell and Felix Claar pulled a big load in the absence of top names like Mads Hoxer, Aron Palmarsson and Mikkel Hansen.

And defensively, the people from Aalborg got a much better hold. The Kolding players suddenly seemed feverish and often did not send qualified finishes at all.

A frustrated coach Kristian Kristensen tried in a timeout in the middle of the half to shout new courage into his players. At that time, Aalborg were ahead by five goals, and this time the favorites did not come together in the end.

/ritzau/