Courtesy: LEN
Brescia broke four points clear after
winning an epic 29-goal match in Split as Olympiacos’ unbeaten run ended in
Kragujevac where Radnicki caused a huge upset by beating the Greeks. Fellow
Serbian side Novi Beograd’s 5-0 opening against Barceloneta proved to be
decisive despite the Spaniards’ surge in the second half. Since Ferencvaros
bagged three more points against Dinamo, the Spaniards now trail by five in the
race for the Final Eight.
Group A: Novi Beograd (SRB) v Zodiac Atletic
Barceloneta (ESP) 11-9, Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) v Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE)
10-8, Jadran Split (CRO) v AN Brescia (ITA) 14-15, FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) v
Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) 16-10
Standings: 1. Brescia 20, 2.
Olympiacos 16, 3. Ferencvaros 16, 5. Novi Beograd 14, 4. Barceloneta 11, 7.
Radnicki 7, 6. Jadran 6, 8. Dinamo 0
Brescia came back from four goals
down in Split to beat Jadran 15-14 in a fantastic game. While two weeks ago it
was a defensive battle where despite its missing players the Italians beat the
Croats 6-5, now it was an offensive feast. The hosts scored nine goals in 13
minutes – only to face a 0-6 run by Brescia in the following nine. Jadran went
all-in in the fourth, but the Italians managed to keep a goal from their
advantage.
And they could watch the games staged
in Serbia with satisfaction as two big rivals fell over the next two hours.
First gone Barceloneta in Belgrade where the hosts responded well to the sudden
resignation of their head-coach Vlado Vujasinovic and proved that they are an
elite team with a huge potential. They stormed to a 5-0 lead in ten minutes –
though in the second half Barceloneta managed to come back to 6-5 but the home
side had the answers again and earned a fine win at the end.
Then came the big upset – Radnicki,
collecting only four points in the first seven rounds, stunned Olympiacos in a
tough battle. Though the Greeks came back from 5-2 to 7-7 but couldn’t take
over the lead, then the Serbs scored late in the third and early in the fourth
and there was no way back for the 2018 champions. Once Radnicki went 10-8 up,
they shut out their rivals in the last four minutes. Lazar Dobozanov had 13
saves, posted a 62% percentage (including stopping Filip Filipovic’s penalty in
the fourth), playing a key role in halting Olympiacos’ unbeaten run.
Ferencvaros bagged three more points
to have now at least as many wins as draws (four and four, still no losses) –
this time the Hungarians had a slow start against Dinamo, but netting 7 in the
second period put the game on the expected track.
RECAPS
Radnicki v Olympiacos 10-8
The Greeks had to overcome the
problems caused by their travel delay – arrived a day later after a snowfall
froze Athens – and they ‘arrived’ into the match also a bit later. This slow
start pushed them into a mission ‘almost
impossible’as they fell behind quickly and trailed 4-1 and 5-2 in the first
period while the Serbs played really well.
Radnicki earned a couple of great
wins (two against fellow Serbian side Novi Beograd in the cup final and in the
Adriatic League) and those victories did good to the team’s confidence. Though
Konstantinos Mourikis pulled one back 6 seconds from time with his usual
centre-goal and Ioannis Fountoulis further reduced the gap early in the second,
but the hosts didn’t crack under the pressure. Milos Cuk netted an extra for
6-4, followed by Konstantinos Genidounias’ man-up goal – then the Greeks
managed to kill three man-downs, still, Nikola Lukic’s fine action shot gave
back the two-goal lead for Radnicki by halftime.
Sadly for the Serbs, their compatriot
Filip Filipovic finally joined the party in the third and with a double in 38
seconds (from a penalty and a man-up) he put Olympiacos back on even at 7-7.
Lukic missed the hosts’ next 6 on 5, then the Greeks earned one but they
couldn’t take a shot. After they were also denied by goalie Lazar Dobozanov in
their following possessions, Marko Radulovic’s 6m shot sent Radnicki ahead once
more, 17 seconds before the last break.
Fountoulis hit the post from the
Greeks’ first man-up in the fourth, and that was crucial since Josip Vrlic
managed to score from the centre – so it was 9-7 and not 8-8. Dobozanov stopped
Filipovic’s penalty in the next attack and the Greeks needed one more minute
before they could score – after a killed man down, Fountoulis found the back of
the net from action. Still, Radnicki held on as Aleksa Ukropina beat Marko
Bijac in the following 6 on 5 – and the Greeks were unable to score more goals
in the last four minutes. Indeed, they couldn’t take a shot in their last two
man-ups, and this inevitably led to the end of their unbeaten run.
Novi Beograd v Barceloneta 11-9
Coaches hate to see their teams
conceding goals from counters and the centre – in Belgrade a goal from a
counter by Radomir Drasovic and one from the centre by Dusko Pijetlovic kicked
off the match, the two arrived in 51 seconds to set the tone. Three minutes
later Elvis Fatovic had to call a time-out after Drasko Gogov’s goal from a 6
on 5 counter gave a 4-0 lead to the hosts. It just helped to halt the Serbs’
run, but the Spaniards were still unable to score and when Gogov netted an
extra early in the second, Barceloneta faced an enormous mountain to climb at
5-0.
Then Alvaro Granados broke the ice,
after five missed 6 on 5s he finally put the Spaniards on the scoreboard. It
took 10:49 minutes, but it still didn’t look that nice at halftime at 6-2, even
though they managed to defend a bit better. A telling stat was at this stage
that the number of total shots stood 16-9, on target went 13-4.
Then in the third two fast goals in
25 seconds fired up the visitors, 64 seconds later Felipe Perrone finished off
a counter, so it was match-time again at 6-5. Dusan Mandic stepped up to send
his team back to the battlefield, but Miguel de Toro also buried an extra from
close. Strahinja Rasovic was on target twice, a penalty and a converted extra
helped his team to keep the distance as between the two del Toro scored after a
lucky rebound. Perrone was blocked in a man-up and that put the writing on the
wall as Vasilje Martinovic’s fine bouncer hit the back of the net for 10-7.
The last period produced a tremendous
battle, after three minutes Barceloneta scored first, de Toro netted a man-up
again and 40 seconds later Alberto Munarriz buried a penalty – so it stood 10-9
with 4:24 to go. The Spaniards survived back-to-back man-downs, but de Toro’s
centre-shot was denied by the post. The Spaniards had more chances to go even,
Dani Lopez made a big save in a man-up with 1:15 to go but Pijetlovic also
stopped de Toro’s ball. The Serbs earned a man-up 22 seconds before the final
whistle, the Spaniards left them 3 on 2 but Angelos Vlachopoulos put an end to
the contest with a pinpoint shot, one second from time. Though the change for
the second half was mirrored by the same stats mentioned at halftime (total
shots: 28-26, on target: 22-19 – 12-17 and 9-15 in the second half) but the
first period’s blackout cost too much to the Spaniards.
Jadran v Brescia 14-15
Two weeks ago, Brescia played the
match with literally seven field players, still managed to pull it off by a
single goal. Now the Italian team was almost complete, but the Croats also
wanted to grab their last chance to stay with the leaders and it ended in a
magnificent match – perhaps only the goalies left the pool with bad memories.
Jadran stepped up in the opening
period and managed to take a 4-2 lead. The second period began with a shooting
parade, six goals arrived in a span of three minutes, only two possessions out
of eight didn’t bring a hit at the end – though the gap didn’t change as both
sides netted three. Then the Italians froze in front while the hosts carried on
and Antonio Duzevic’s nice centre-goal gave them a 9-5 lead with 3:26 remaining
till the middle break.
Brescia was in trouble, but the
Italians didn’t lose their composure and soon hit the comeback trail. Edoardo
di Somma – who was also the saviour of his team on Day 7 – netted a man-up then
with some luck his ball slipped in seven seconds from time, so it looked better
at halftime (9-7).
The Italian defence tightened, they
were more aggressive while the Croats’ level in offence dropped significantly,
they couldn’t find the tools to overplay the rival’s defence. Petar Tesanovic
also improved a lot in Brescia’s goal, the Montenegrin was 3/12 in the first
half while posted 4/5 alone in the third. While Jadran scored nine goals in
12:34 minutes, the hosts remained scoreless in the next 9 minutes and that had
a devastating effect on the outcome. Brescia geared up and with four connecting
action goals they took over the lead – it was a 0-6 run altogether –, before
Duzevic put away an extra. Still, the Italians were on fire, added two more,
one from a 6 on 5 and another from action, killed two man-downs to go 10-13 up
before the last period.
Though the 1-6 hammering in the third
might looked like bad but the Croats came back strong for the fourth. Mate
Ancic delivered a couple of saves, Niksa Dobud netted a brilliant goal from the
centre and when Marin Delic sent the ball home from a dying extra it became an
open game again at 12-13 with 4:50 on the clock. Christian Presciutti’s action
goal halted the home side’s run but only temporarily as Konstantin Kharkov’s
outside blast halved the distance once again. The next two and a half minutes
were thrilling, Jadran had possessions to equalise but the post saved Brescia
before Vincenzo Renzuto converted a man-up with a huge shot for 13-15, and only
45 seconds were remaining. However, Kharkov needed only 11 seconds to score
again and Jadran had four seconds to save the game to a draw, but Tesanovic
could put his hand on Luka Bukic’s shot to secure three really important points
for Brescia.
Ferencvaros v Dinamo 16-10
In Tbilisi, the Hungarians made sure
right at the beginning that the Dinamo players should not smell blood at any
stage of the game and with a 0-5 start they transformed the match to a calm
encounter. Now, missing five members of their starting line-up due to positive
tests, they were unable to copy their last performance, at least in the first
half. What’s more, after Denes Varga opened the scoring, Dinamo managed to
reply with two goals while Marton Vamos missed a penalty, so the visitors led
1-2 after the first period.
Vamos erased the bad memories with an
action goal early in the second, followed by a man-up conversion by Szilard
Jansik but the gap didn’t grow any bigger. What’s more, Dinamo always found the
answers as Ferencvaros’ defence didn’t click at this phase of the game, their
young players committed mistakes and the Georgians punished all – and held on
for 5-5. Then came Denes Varga with a double, plus a fine goal from the centre
by Gabor Lorinc, three goals from as many possessions in 70 seconds and that
put the match on the expected track, even though Marko Jelaca pulled one back
before the middle break.
The defences didn’t shine in the
third either, but it was clear that the Magyars were in control (though Some
Vogel had to face 23 shots, compared to the 17 two weeks ago) – still, all
credits go to Dinamo as they managed to stay close even during this period and
trailed by only three goals (13-10) before the last break. However, they ran
out of gas for the fourth, couldn’t score any more while Luca Damonte showed
his real class for the first time in the season – he stopped at 5, just like
Varga, the Italian was 5/5, a brilliant feat in any match in this competition.
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