The Swedish handball league got off to a flying start with the classic meeting IFK Kristianstad–Ystads IF on Tuesday evening.
Kristianstad started the best and after just over a quarter of an hour it was 8-6 on the board where the home team's Anton Halén scored five goals.
But the visitors got an energy boost and pulled in 15-11 to 15-14 just before the end of the first half.
The second half was at least as even.
With about 40 seconds left, Matias Helt Jepsen was able to make it 29-28 and force the champion team into a timeout.
And with 21 seconds left, Ystad had a golden opportunity to equalize when they received a penalty.
But Julius Lindskog Andersson hit the post and the roof in Kristianstad Arena completely lifted in front of 3487 spectators.
Kristianstad, with the prestige signings Matias Helt Jepsen and Andreas Cederholm at the helm, thus started the season in the best way.
A season where the team is tipped in advance.
- It goes up and down during 60 minutes, but we have a fantastic audience that stands behind us, says Zoran Bozic, who is back after an injury-filled year.