Next victory in the league: Women's handballers win in Solingen

The Borussia Dortmund women's handballers have extended their winning start to the Women's Handball Bundesliga season to four matches. Coach Henk Groener's team claimed a 30-24 (15-14) victory away to HSV Solingen-Gräfrath and thus cemented themselves in second place in the table behind leaders Bietigheim. The top scorer in the clash with the promoted side was Carmen Campos, who scored eight goals.

The scenario: A week on from the defeat against Bayer Leverkusen and the resulting elimination from the DHB-Pokal, Groener's charges wanted to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible away to the league newcomers from the Klingenstadt. The BVB coach had to make do without Dana Bleckmann and Lena Degenhardt, while Alicia Stolle missed out once again - as did Harma van Kreij, who was suffering from back problems.

The match & analysis: Borussia Dortmund struggled in the opening minutes at the Klingenhalle in Solingen. HSV were in self-confident mood and ruthlessly exploited BVB's mistakes. Gräfrath played with commitment and plenty of passion. Two former Borussia players, Vanessa Brandt and Paulina Uścinowicz, were in very prolific form in front of goal at the outset. They scored two spectacular goals apiece and ensured their team got off to a good start.

After a little more than 10 minutes, Haruno Sasaki grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. The Japanese turned a two-goal deficit (9-7) into a lead (11-9) for the Black & Yellows by scoring four goals without reply. Tess Lieder then saved several throws and the lead gradually increased to 15-11 by the 22nd minute. But the promoted outfit stayed brave and fought their way back with the support of their fans and three goals in a row, with BVB only narrowly in front at the break (15-14).

The second period also got off to an even and exciting start. Solingen continued to show a lot of bite and at times took a bit of the wind out of BVB's sails. However, Dortmund's defence - in combination with Lieder between the sticks - by the minute and the visitors increasingly found the net thanks to their high tempo. Right-winger Mareike Kusian shone in this phase and scored goals on several occasions.

When Emma Olsson scored to put her side 26-20 ahead with 10 minutes to go, the game was as good as up. Especially because Carmen Campos really turned on the style in the closing stages and took good advantage of the gaps appearing in Solingen's offensive defence. The Spaniard thus became her team's top thrower and made a significant contribution to BVB continuing their flawless run in the league, with four victories from four matches.

Henk Groener: "It was a chaotic week for us after the shock of Lena Degenhardt's injury. So compliments to the team on how they did over 60 minutes today. There were a few tough phases in the game, but we then increasingly got the Gräfrath attack under better control and won clearly in the end."

Carmen Campos: "It was a hard game for us because of the many absences; there were only three of us at the back. We had a difficult start but we were then able to switch off our mistakes. We also showed a strong fighting spirit at the beginning of the second half and deserved to win."

BVB women's handballers: Lieder, Wachter; Campos (8), Sprengers (2), Kusian (2), Ossenkopp (2), Olsson (4), Rønning (1), Antl (2), Sasaki (6), Hausherr (3), Heimann, von der Wiede

Outlook: With the first weeks of the season over, it's now time for a break. Several of the Borussia players will be in international and EURO qualifying action. BVB will then resume their domestic campaign when TuS Metzingen make the trip to Wellinghofen at 19:00 CET on 21 October.