Mannheimer HC’s strengthened their position at the head of the women’s Bundesliga in Germany courtesy of Charlotte Gerstenhöfer’s final second goal against Harvestehuder THC.

It came from a corner and earned the league leaders a 1-0 success which has them two points clear of second placed Dusseldorfer HC and with a game in hand.

Mannheim did enjoyed most of the play but found HTHC’s defence well-organised and tough to break down with goalkeeper Rosa Krüger well protected. 

HTHC had limited attacking moments but they did hit the post via Maren Kiefer from their only penalty corner of the contest. But Mannheim kept plugging away and eventually got their reward.

“Of course you can say we are happy with our victory. On the other hand, we had more opportunities and circles,” said MHC coach Nicklas Benecke.

“We dealt with the conditions well, especially the disgusting weather. It was our plan to be patient.”

Dusseldorf, meanwhile, let a 2-0 lead slip against UHC Hamburg in their Sunday match. Early strikes from Lilly Stoffelsma and Lisa Nolte put them in the clear only for Charlotte Stapenhorst and Hannah Seifert to score corner goals and make it 2-2.

UHC are eight points behind Mannheim but have a game in hand.

In the men’s competition, leading pair Uhlenhorst Mulheim and Rot-Weiss Koln both dropped points, recording 2-2 draws against Berliner HC and Club an der Alster, respectively.

Mannheim moved within two points of them with a 6-1 away win over Grossflottbek with two goals from Paul Zmyslony