By Chris O’Reilly

The final match at this weekend’s Golden League in Denmark saw the hosts fall to Norway in an entertaining Scandinavian derby.

Defending EHF EURO champions Norway claimed a 25:20 win after a dominant second half display, their best performance of the weekend, to end the tournament unbeaten.

Here are the ratings for Sunday afternoon’s clash in Horsens, with all players significantly involved in the match and the two head coaches rated on a scale of 1 to 10.

Norway

Coach Thorir Hergeirsson – 9
Managed to give the vast majority of his squad a chance to play, while remaining in control throughout the 60 minutes. In the second half, he kept Veronica Kristiansen in reserve for longer than expected, before unleashing her on a tiring Danish defense. He’ll be delighted with the progress made since the beginning of the weekend.

Veronica Kristiansen – 9
Caused plenty of problems for Denmark’s defense with her agility and athleticism, drawing penalties and two-minute suspensions. She was the player with the most athletic prowess on court and she made it show with an impressive performance and six goals to go with it.

Katrine Lunde – 9
Norway’s difference maker in the second half. Conceded just eight goals and kept Denmark goalless in a 10-minute spell which saw Norway put the result beyond doubt.

Stine Oftedal – 8
Showed her unparalleled playmaking at times, including a brilliant blind pass to set up Mørk in the first half. Took it upon herself to score in the second half when it was needed – a real leader’s performance.

Silje Solberg – 8
Bounced back from a relatively disappointing performance against France well. After a shaky start, Solberg was commanding between the posts and recorded close to a 40 per cent save rate.

Sanna Solberg – 8
Bright start with three goals in seven minutes, fed nicely by Kristiansen, but only added one in the rest of her time on court. Did everything asked of her and she is looking comfortable as the first choice left wing.

Thea Mørk – 7
Two well-taken goals during her spell on the left wing. Yet to prove she has the pace to make other teams pay on the counter attack, which is a weapon Norway will need in their artillery.

Vilde Ingstad – 7
The line player was too much for Denmark to handle when she got the ball in her hands, either scoring or earning a penalty each time.

Amanda Kurtovic – 7
Kurtovic displayed her usefulness to the team with solid displays at right back and right wing. Scored four today and more of the same will be needed from her at the EURO in December.

Kari Brattset – 6
Heavily involved in a battle on the line and she caused a lot of difficulty for the Danish defenders, while the back court took care of scoring.

Stine Skogrand – 6
On the day when it was confirmed that Nora Mørk would certainly miss December’s EHF EURO, Skogrand was given the perfect chance to claim the right back spot. Yet, she scored just once and could have done much better.

Ingvild Bakkerud – 6
Created opportunities for herself, but finishing was not always ideal. She did enough to start the second half, but she has a way to go before she gives coach Hergeirsson a headache about selecting a starting left back.

Marta Tomac – 6
Looked a tiny bit off the pace of the match. Didn’t do much wrong in attack, but not a threat Norway’s EURO group opponents will be losing sleep over.

Denmark

Coach Klavs Bruun Jørgensen – 7
Jørgensen opted to give a number of fringe players extended playing time today and while the tactics he employed created chances, his players just couldn’t find a way past Norway’s in-form keepers.

Sandra Toft – 8
Toft certainly played her part and was often the only player who kept Norway from opening a significant first-half lead. Made some brilliant stops in the second half, but her teammates couldn’t do the business down the other end.

Stine Jørgensen – 7
One of Denmark’s better performers. Was used for most of the match and was relatively effective, showing some brilliant moments but Denmark need more from her.

Anne Mette Hansen – 7
Didn’t begin in top form, but came out of the first timeout a new woman and quickly scored twice. Every time it doesn’t work out for her in attack, she appears to make up for it immediately in defense. It was another battling performance, but not as sharp as Thursday against France.

Stine Bodholt – 7
Confirmed herself as Denmark’s first choice line player this week and delivered a solid performance with three goals today,

Kristina Jørgensen – 7
Didn’t take long to make an impact after coming on in the first half. Found her range quickly and scored some beautiful long-range goals.

Trine Østergaard – 6
Scored Denmark’s first two goals of the match and looked set for a field day from the right wing. However, she barely touched the ball for the remaining 57 minutes.

Mette Tranborg – 6
Proved to be a threat in the first half, but she appeared to disappear for much of the second half, popping up just one more goal.

Kathrine Heindahl – 6
Strong physical presence on the line for Denmark, but she wasn’t able to make an impact on the scoresheet.

Lærke Nolsøe – 5
Good vision and movement in fast breaks, wild with her first shot and didn’t get better from there as she failed to score.

Fie Woller – 5
Worked hard, as usual, on the left wing in the first half, but all the action was on the opposite side and she wasn’t able to make much of an impact.

Nadia Offendal – 5
Missed a penalty shortly after coming on, but given a second chance and scored. Had a real opportunity to shine at center back in the final quarter, moved the ball well but couldn’t contribute much in terms of a real attacking threat.