My player’s license eventually came through having missed the first two league matches of the season. Having been here for two months now, it was huge relief to say that I was officially a Bregenz player. This season I am likely to be playing for the development team which consists of mainly players who are under 21. However they can have three players over 21 in the squad. In the Austrian Handball Liga (HLA) each team has an U21 team which play the same fixtures as the first team which I think is a great way to keep the young players involved and allow the head coach to see which players are developing and he can also include them in the first team squad on the same day.

The first team had responded well to their failed Champion’s League qualification attempt with the defeat of Innsbruck in a midweek fixture with the U21’s also continuing their winning start to the season. On the morning of Friday 11th before Saturday’s away fixture to Leoben, it was still unclear whether or not my license would be ready but after some calls to the relevant people it was finally cleared; I could play!!

It was great to be involved this weekend, my first match for the U21’s also included the possibility of being included in the first team squad as the second choice goalkeeper Chrissi Winkler had injured his finger in the midweek match. I was a bit nervous which is unlike me. I started on the bench behind Chrissi’s younger brother Lukas who has had a good start to the season in goal with the U21’s. After a good first, we were in front by 11 and it looked like it would be plain sailing from there on.

I came on with 25 minutes to go, feeling a little bit of pressure. I had a decent start saving the first two shots that came my way. It was a strange experience playing against these players, the shots weren’t as hard as I was used to and I struggled to find my timing and had a poor 10 minutes to allow Leoben to close the gap to six goals. After a time out, I managed to compose myself and had a fairly good closing 10 minutes conceding just one goal on the final whistle. I was disappointed with myself, I knew this sloppy 10 minute period would cost me any chance I had of being named in the first team squad as back up for Goran Aleksic and I was right. Lukas deservedly took his place on the bench and came on with around 12 minutes to go. He played well and helped the first team see out their victory with a nine goal advantage.

I knew that I had to respond from the disappointment of my performance in the right way, and that was to focus on the next training session and the next match that I would play in. The following weekend I was called up by the second team. The chance had come to redeem myself and restore some confidence. We travelled to Biberach in Germany for the match against a team that had been relegated the season before so we were expecting a tough game. Once again the level compared to the training I have had was not the same but I quickly found my form and we eventually went on to win the game by one goal and I saved the last shot of the game. The team were happy with me, I had been a key player in the victory and it felt good to have put in a good performance after my poor start the weekend before. So, the season is finally under way for me. It has been a long time coming!