Barbar reached the final of the Bahrain Handball League after beating Al Shabab 30-27 yesterday.
The semi-final played at the Bahrain Handball Association hall in Um Al Hassam saw Al Shabab fail to put up a strong fight against their opponents.
Injury-hit Barbar were left to defend with Mahmoud Abdelqader and Mohammed Al Maqabi. They took an early 3-1 lead and managed to quickly extend their score to 6-1 within the first nine minutes of the game.
Barbar, who had recently claimed the Bahrain Handball Association Cup, played on the wings with the main threat coming from Hossam Madan who had scored two out of the first three goals.
Seeing his team lagging behind, Al Shabab coach Amin Al Qalaf requested his first time-out of the match.
Al Shabab managed to show a bit of muscle after the time-out and closed down the score to a four-goal difference at 8-4.
Their players began to rush their attacks hoping to quickly get back to the game, but it back-fired due to lack of concentration.
The 22nd minute of the first half saw Barbar get back their five-goal lead going up 14-9. However it quickly declined to a three-point difference after Hussain Maky was introduced for Al Shabab.
Barbar once again got their five-goal lead at 17-12 and managed to end the first half leading comfortably 19-14.
An over-confident Barbar failed to score a goal in the first five minutes of the second half while Al Shabab scored twice. However, the next five minutes saw them score three goals to lead 22-19.
Al Shabab blew a chance to bounce back when they could not capitalise on a failed attempt by Barbar. Should they have scored it, the goal difference would have been two and it could have restored their confidence.
However, Barbar were the ones to make use of their opposition’s mistakes, extending the lead to four goals.
Al Qalaf once again requested a time-out for Al Shabab as they were held back by a five-goal difference at 24-19.
The dying minutes of the match saw Al Shabab reduce the margin to 29-27. Babar coach requested a timeout during the last two minutes of the match to give his team their final bit of motiviation.
Barbar’s goalkeeper Hamad made a stunning save in the last 20 seconds of the game to deny Al Shabab the chance to tighten the gap.
Barbar will come up against Al Ahly for the final on Monday. The match will take place at 7pm at the Bahrain Handball Association Hall in Um Al Hassam.
Barbar had defeated Al Ahly 32-29 when they faced each other last week in the Bahrain Handball Association Cup final.
Barbar will look to dominate the local scene at the league final while Al Ahly will hope to add a trophy to their cabinet this season, which remains empty.