Challenger Cup Final, 1st leg: GS Apollon Smyrnis (GRE) v CN Terrassa (ESP) 12-11
Second leg: 29 April
The first leg of the final in
inaugural edition of the Challenger Cup offered a thrilling encounter between
the two best sides of the series. Terrassa arrived at Greece unbeaten but their
run came to an end on Wednesday evening – still, they were probably the happier
squad after a brave comeback at the end.
The hosts jumped to a 3-1 lead early
in the first period and still held on for 5-3 before Terrassa hit back, two
man-up goals in 62 seconds brought them to level and after a late exchange of
goals the score was tied at halftime at 6-6.
The first twist came in the third
when the Spaniards went ahead for the first time as Adrian Delgado netted a
fine action goal for 7-8, but Nikola Bogdanovic equalised immediately, then
Nikolaos Gardikas hit a double in the last 72 seconds to make it 10-8 before
the final quarter.
Bogdanovic scored from action early
on, it was his 4th in the evening, Apollon were in a 4-0 run, and it could have
been more, but the home side missed a crucial man-up after a time-out. Jordi
Chico finished off the following action for 11-9 to end Terrassa’s seven-minute
long drought, still, Gardikas was on fire and also netted his fourth from
action 22 seconds later.
With three goals up and 4:30 to go
all looked bright for the Greeks – however, to the horror of the enthusiastic
home crowd, they were unable to add any more in that remaining time while
Terrassa managed to cut the gap to a single goal with two fine action shots.
Delgado’s one came 37 seconds from time, not long after another missed 6 on 5
by Apollon – and these were the small but crucial details which may have an
impact on the outcome of the title clash. That is due in 10 days’ time in Spain
– a must-watch match for all water polo lovers.
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