Ribe-Esbjerg moved further clear at the top of the Danish handball league with a 34-29 away win over Nordsjælland on Saturday. The result leaves the visitors second on nine points after five matches, while the hosts remain twelfth with three.
By then the gap between the two sides was clear enough. The away side had taken three points from their opening five fixtures and were building momentum, whereas the home team were still searching for consistency after one win, three draws and one defeat.
Nordsjælland had shown flashes of promise recently, drawing with Kolding and narrowly losing to Skanderborg before that. Their form against Bjerrengbro-Silkeborg suggested they could compete, but the away side refused to go away and made the difference when it mattered.
and here's the thing — we had tipped the visitors to win with 51 per cent confidence. The prediction held up, and it was not a surprise. The away side had won four of five, while the home team struggled to find rhythm when pressed.
The result extends Ribe-Esbjerg's run and leaves Nordsjælland needing to regroup. The table goes out of the window in these games, but points matter eventually, and the visitors are the ones collecting them.