In the season opener of the K&H Women’s Handball League, Győri Audi ETO KC stepped onto the court in Kisvárda in a game which had been brought forward from the 8th round. The teams seemed to be in pre-season form in the first half, but Győr went into the break with a two-goal lead. Our defence improved in the second half resulting in a 13-goal victory in the first game of the season.

Line Haugsted was still missing from the team due to shoulder injury, however Sandra Toft was available for play. Ambros Martín started the season opener with the following line-up: Győri-Lukács, Ryu, Oftedal, Broch, Hansen, Schatzl and Solberg in goal. The first goal of the match came from Schatzl, the home team responded in the fourth minute (1 – 1). After 15 minutes of play we were leading by three goals (7 – 4), however in the last 10 minutes of the first half the lead was down to one (8 – 9). The home team did not give in easily, they were constantly clinging on. It was a happy moment when Sandra Toft introduced herself in our goal, she came in for a penalty and was successful in saving the shot. In the closing minutes of the first half the teams were head-to-head, resulting in a 14 – 12 lead for Győr for the break.

The game completely changed in the next 30 minutes, starting with saves from Solberg and scoring from Broch (15 – 12). The girls of Ambros Martín extended the lead to five goals until the 40th minute (19 – 14) and further increased the difference at the halfway mark of the second half (22 – 15). In the 50th minute Fodor scored our team’s 25th goal from the long assist of Gros, making the difference 10 goals between the teams (25 – 15). Toft stood in goal for the last quarter, the difference continued to grow, and at the end a 32 – 19 victory for Győr in the 2022/2023 season’s first regular game.

Ambros Martín: „Thank you for Kisvárda for today’s game. The home team did a very good job in the first half, especially in defence, which made our attacks difficult. Our own defence is also commendatory since we defended at a high level for 60 minutes. Two points and altogether tough defence.

Schatzl Nadine: „Kisvárda played well in the first half, they ran a lot. For the second 30 minutes we toughened up our defence from which we could score easy goals.”