Novi Beograd had to overcome some headaches to down Oradea and secure the top rank in Group A, but Steaua’s win in Hannover leaves the 8th qualifying spot open – so a Romanian showdown will decide who will go through on the final day. In Group B, title-holders Ferencvaros blew away Radnicki to finish top, while Jadran Split made no mistakes to beat Dinamo and advance to the next stage.
Group A
VK Novi Beograd (SRB) 12-10 CSM Oradea (ROU)
Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 9-12 CSA Steaua Bucharest (ROU)
Standings: 1. Novi Beograd 15, 2. Oradea 8, 3. Steaua 6, 4. Hannover 1
Oradea would have needed at least a point to secure their spot in the next round (regardless of the outcome of the evening match), and they were close to getting it in Beograd, but the Serbs prevailed in the end.
NBG started dominating in the second period, gaining a 5-3 lead, then Vasilije Martinovic added two fine goals to give the home side a 7-4 lead at half-time.
Three minutes into the third, the Romanians were back in it after netting two for 7-6, however, the Serbs delivered a swift response, as Martinovic and Dimitrios Skoumpakis buried extras to reset the three-goal gap.
With 1:06 remaining, Novi went 11-7 up, but their comfortable lead soon vanished as Oradea hit two in a span of 31 seconds to start the final period at 11-9.
The Serbs missed a man-up early in the fourth, and even though Milan Glusac delivered two great saves within one man-down, he couldn’t put a hand on David Belenyesi’s blast from the perimeter to make it 11-10 and there was still 4:39 to play.
The following four minutes saw a huge fight, NBG missed two man-ups, while Filip Gardasevic couldn’t score his fifth from a counter which would have been the equaliser.
In contrast, Martinovic hit his fifth of the night to close down the contest 49 seconds from time and secure NBG’s top spot.
Steaua benefitted from Oradea’s earlier defeat and kept their chance to make the cut as they downed Waspo in Hannover in a hard-fought match.
The Romanians established a 3-5 lead, but the hosts climbed back with two late goals to 5-5 in the second quarter, though they could have done more as they had seven man-ups alone in this period.
Hannover scored one early in the third to go 6-5 ahead, but Steaua hit back with a powerful 0-3 rush in 1:50 minutes.
Mark Gansen pulled one back then Steaua’s Francesco Iudean fired in two 6m shots before the last break to open up a 7-10 advantage.
Antonio Buha netted an extra one minute into the fourth, but Tudor-Andrei Fulea also converted a 6 on 5 right away. Buha then scored from action and Waspo had two fine chances to come even closer, but they missed both and Fulea sent the ball home from a man-up 3:48 from time to settle the bill.
The result paved the way for a classic Romanian showdown on the last day, as the clash of Oradea and Steaua will decide the second qualifying spot in this group.
Group B
Jadran Split (CRO) 12-5 Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)
FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 16-4 Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB)
Standings: 1. FTC 15, 2. Jadran 11, 3. Radnicki 4, 4. Dinamo 0
Both Jadran and FTC did a clean and professional job – although what Ferencvaros did with Radnicki was more than a clean job, as the title-holders completely dismantled the Serbian side.
Deep into the third period, Ferencvaros led 11-1, and Soma Vogel’s save percentage stood at 88% – the Serbs only managed to beat him from a 6 on 4, and at the second attempt after their first shot was saved.
In 21 minutes, that was somewhat incredible in view of Radnicki’s star-studded line-up. FTC were devastating once more, with Krisztian Manhercz hitting three of their first four goals, and later almost everyone joined the party from the home side.
After 11-1, the Serbs found the back of the net twice from back-to-back possessions, but it was short-lived happinness, if it was at all. They managed to add another early in the fourth, yet they conceded four more to be knocked out by 12 goals.
Vogel finished with 14 saves from 18 shots for an incredible 78% – while the Serbian goalies had four saves combined from 20 shots, which perfectly highlighted the major difference between the teams.
FTC booked the top spot before the last round and Jadran also secured their Quarter Final berth as they decided the match against Dinamo by half-time.
Marko Bijac had another outstanding evening in the Croats’ goal, finishing with a remarkable 11 saves from 16 shots for 69%.
Jadran slowed down a little in the second half, which ended 5-4, but there could be no complaints as the three points were already safely staying in Split.
Indeed, the home side were very clinical, scoring 12 goals from 25 shots and 22 of those were on target, which was a great demonstration of their fine concentration levels.
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