January 2022

Jug stuns Recco, Hannover wins big  Only two games were played in Group B but those two offered great excitements as Jug managed  to beat title-holder Recco while Hannover, despite missing six of its key players, bagged all three  points in Bucharest after scoring the winner 17 seconds from time. Positive tests prevented OSC  from fielding enough players at home against Spandau, while Crvena Zvezda could not make the  trip to Marseille. According to the regulations, Spandau and Marseille took these matches with  10-0.  Group B: Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO) v Pro Recco (ITA) 11-8, Steaua Bucharest (ROU)  v Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 9-10, CN Marseille (FRA) v Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 10-0, OSC Budapest  (HUN) v Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) 0-10  Standings: 1. Recco 18, 2. Marseille 18, 3. Jug 15, 4. OSC 10, 5. Hannover 8, 6. Spandau 7, 7. Steaua  3, 8. Zvezda 3  Jug faced all kind of problems in December – but the Christmas break did good to the Croats while  Recco failed to bring its ‘A-game’ to the pool in Dubrovnik and lost its first match in the season. Jug  had a great run in the third period when they netted three connecting goals after 7-6 and the Italians  couldn’t recover from the four-goal deficit. Indeed, they could score only eight while they averaged  16.1 goals in the previous six rounds. This could partly be thanked to Jug goalie Toni Popadic who  delivered a series of outstanding saves in the third period and finished the match with 14 stops and a  63.6 saving percentage.  Normally, Hannover would have been considered the favourite in Bucharest, but the Germans had to  leave six of their best players at home. However, their mix of juniors and the remaining veterans  managed to edge out Steaua. The Germans played quite efficiently and even though the Romanians  could level the score from time to time, even came back from 5-8 down, they could never take the lead.  They had a possession after 9-9 but couldn’t capitalise it and Jon Winkelhorst put away a 6 on 5 with  0:17 to go.  These three points might be crucial in the race for the Final 8 as OSC could not field the minimum  number of players in its home game against Spandau. The other German team also had problems,  arrived with nine players but nine positive tests prevented the Hungarians from showing up for the  match. Crvena Zvezda had Covid-related travel issues and at the end they were unable to make their trip  to Marseille. According to the regulations, those teams which were ready to play, receive three points  with a goal-difference of 10-0, which tightens up the ranks.  Recaps  Jug v Recco 11-8  Based on the previous six rounds, nothing forecasted what actually happened in Dubrovnik. Recco was  flying high, their closest games all saw six goals difference at least while Jug had ups and many downs, including home losses to Marseille and most recently to OSC. However, the Croats entered  the match with a different mindset while as the game progressed it became obvious that Recco wasn’t as  sharp as before.   The first period promised the expected scenario, the Italians offered their usual powerful start, after 1-0  they scored two in 46 seconds with a killed man-down in between, two minutes later Aaron Younger  netted another man-up (Recco was 3/3 here) to take a 1-3 lead. Konstantinos Kakarakis pulled one back  from the next possession and Recco had its first missed man-up shortly before the break.  Stylianos Argyropoulos opened the second period with a fine action goal, Gergo Zalanki replied with  his trademark blast from the perimeter, but Loren Fatovic equalised again with a 6m shot. At this stage  the game was amazing, Giacomo Canella put Recco ahead once more from a counter but Jug hit back  with a double in 51 seconds to retake the lead at 6-5 while the goalies came up with some big saves in  the last couple of minutes at both ends.  Goals didn’t come in the first four minutes of the third either, Recco couldn’t force its will onto the  Croats who fought bravely and felt that the Italians were unable to hit their usual gear. When  Argyropoulos finished a counter for 7-5, the hosts knew that they might have their day. Zalanki blew up  another bomb soon, but Recco missed a man-up to go even while Alexandros Papanastasiou’s ball  somehow found its way under Marco del Lungo’s arm. Another crucial series of events commenced  when Toni Popadic stopped Benjamin Hallock’s centre-shot brilliantly while at other end Jug earned a  penalty and Fatovic buried it, so it stood 9-6 instead of 8-7. Popadic was one fire, two more fantastic  saves kept the three-goal gap and with 23 seconds before the last break it was expanded to four when  Hrvoje Benic sent the ball home from a 6 on 5.  Recco was in deep trouble but after a 5:02 minutes long silence Aleksandar Ivovic converted a man-up  and 1:27 later Hallock finally found the back of the net from action so the title-holders came close again  at 10-8. But their momentum didn’t last long – with some luck, Jug managed to make their 6 on 5,  Argyropoulos’ first shot was well saved but after the corner the Greek had a second try and this time he  made it. It was 11-8 with 4:45 to go and Recco were unable to cause any more trouble – indeed they  couldn’t score more and finished the game with 8 hits. This tells the story: in the previous six rounds  their scoring average was 16.1 goals per game and the least they netted was 13 – this evening their  shooting percentage dropped to 26.1%, though kudos for Toni Popadic who finished the match with 14  catches and a 63.6% saving percentage.  Steaua v Hannover 9-10  Aleksandar Radovic, Fynn Schutze, Ivan Nagaev, Ante Corusic, Petar Muslim, Marko Macan – add a  goalie and you get a line-up many teams would welcome