Dramamine – Ferrum 31-32 (18-17)
Elverum is ready for the NC Finals after beating Drammen 32-31 on Thursday.
This is the fourth consecutive final for Elverum in the North Mediterranean, where they have won the last three.
– Drammen made a great match. They pushed us to the end, doing things we hadn’t seen before, but that was also to be expected. They ran hard on us, which made us tired. The cup final is very special, so we had a lot to offer in the final minutes, Elverum player Tobias Grøndahl told TV 2.
The contender at the Oslo Spektrum on December 29 will be ØIF Arendal, who defeated Fjellhammer 29-24 in the semi-finals.
Drammen led to the break
Elverum looked like they would leave the home team in the first half, because the guests were four goals ahead with a score of 15-11, but Drammen worked the way back. Not only that, but he turned around and went to lead 18-17 in the first half.
– Overall it was a good first round, Drammen coach Kristian Kjelling summed it up to TV 2 during the break.
Barely ten minutes into the second half, Drammen was three goals ahead at 23-20, but Elverum scored three goals in a row and equalized the hosts’ lead.
The teams followed each other closely in the following minutes, but Elverum took the lead as the match entered the decisive stage. With just over ten minutes left to play at Drammenshallen, Elverum led 29-26.
Liked: Christian Keeling Drammen. Photo: TV 2 Sport 2
Keeling surprised
In some nerve-wracking final minutes, Drammen fought back again. With only four minutes to go, Drammen tied 31-31, but it was Elverum who shook the victory after Sindre Heldal scored the decisive goal 32-31.
When Hermann Vildalen took the lead and sent off a Torsten Friis shot in the final seconds, Elverum’s players were cheering for the win.
– This was done very well. It was a lot more than I dared dream of after 14 days of injuries. Then it was very painful and disappointing that it did not last completely. This was closer than I thought we’d manage, Christian Keeling tells TV 2 after the game.
“I told the boys after the match that there is no point in losing to other teams in Norway if that’s the level we have,” Drammen coach continues.
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