Cashing six points in back-to-back rounds against Ferencvaros and Recco from
two away games is something any team would be proud of. Few expected
this from OSC but the Budapest based side – once ruler of Europe in the 70s –
recovered its home losses against Marseille and Recco with these brilliant
victories.
The first period already showed that this would not be the same hammering
Recco usually stages at home. The Italians could score their first goal 22
seconds before the end of the first period and even though they jumped to a
3-1 lead early in the second, OSC replied with three connecting goals and held
on for 5-5 till halftime.
Though Filip Filipovic’s trademark blast opened the third but another
stunning triple came from the visitors, young leftie Gergely Burian netted a
great action goal and Andrija Prlainovic was also on target twice to give OSC a
6-8 advantage. Mateo Aicardi’s ‘dunking’ in a man-up halved the distance but
Krisztian Manhercz also found the back of the net so OSC led 7-9 before the
last break.
A lucky bounce helped Recco in the first possession, and after an exchange of
extraman goals it stood 9-10 with 5:00 minutes remaining. No one thought
that this had been the hosts’ last goal – but it turned out to be. Since
Prlainovic netted his fourth and soon Nemanja Ubovic lobbed a great goal for
9-12, the home players became too tense and lacked precision. They had fivemore shots but the goalie didn’t even have to make a save as all were
complete misses.
On Day 5 Ferencvaros halted Recco’s home winning streak after 33 matches,
now the Italians’ unbeaten run ended after 36 occasions – and Recco is just
facing another shaky test in the home of Ferencvaros in 11 days.
That game might as well decide the top spot in this group on 3 March since
Ferencvaros bounced back from its loss to OSC and beat Mladost to go on
level in points with Recco. The Magyars’ defence worked really well as they
limited the home side to a single goal in the first half while taking a 1-4 lead.
Though the Croats came closer at 3-4 but Ferencvaros kept its calm and reset
the three-goal gap by the end of the third period (4-7).
A mix of crucial happenings came soon in the fourth period: what seemed to
be a great moment for Mladost with 5:30 to go – a fine counter-attack goal
by Luka Bukic for 5-7 – was quickly changed to decisive blow. In fact, it was a
real blow in midfield as Matias Biljaka punched Szilard Jansik amidst some
off-the-ball wrestling and the ensuing 4-min expulsion of the Croat put an end
to the contest. Though the Hungarians could score only twice in the constant
6 on 5 but Mladost had no chance to reduce its deficit.
The only good news for the Zagreb boys came from Terrassa where the
Spaniards, the most dangerous among the chasers, couldn’t keep all three
points at home against Marseille. It was a fantastic thriller where the French
rushed to a 0-4 lead in the first period only to see the hosts coming back by
netting six goals in the second so it stood 6-6 at halftime. Terrassa even took
the lead twice in the third but the French hit back and went in front once
again before the last break.
They doubled their lead for 8-10 but the Spaniards managed to equalise once
more with 1:37 to go. Bogdan Durdic netted an action goal for Marseille with
1:15 remaining but Alberto Barroso sent the ball home from a man-up 37
seconds from time. After one steal apiece Marseille had 6 seconds after a
time-out, earned a man-up but their last shot was denied so the teams had to
settle for a draw – a bit better news for Terrassa but they are still trailing by
three points to Mladost and Marseille came further three adrift.
The bottom ranked teams produced a 32-goal epic in Hannover, the Germans
had a sluggish start but soon they began to dominate over Dinamo and their
win was never in danger in the second half.
Group B (Friday)
Pro Recco (ITA) v A-Híd OSC Budapest (HUN) 9-12
HAVK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) v FTC-Telekom Budapest (HUN) 6-9
CN Terrassa (ESP) v CN Marseille (FRA) 11-11
Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) v Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) 18-14
Standings: 1. Recco 20, 2. FTC 20, 3. OS9 16, 4. Mladost 16, 5. Terrassa 13, 6.
Marseille 10, 7. Hannover 6, 8. Tbilisi 0
Group A (Saturday)
19.00 Szolnoki Dozsa (HUN) v Jug Adriatic Osiguranje Dubrovnik (CRO)
19.00 Jadran Carine Herceg Novi (MNE) v Jadran Split (CRO)
19.00 Spandau 04 Berlin (GER) v Sintez Kazan (RUS)
20.00 Olympiacos Piraeus (GRE) v Zodiac Atletic Barceloneta (ESP)
Standings: 1. Barceloneta 19, 2. Olympiacos 19, 2. Jug 18, 4. Szolnok 12, 5.
Jadran Carine 10, 5. Spandau 8, 7. Jadran Split 4, 8. Sintez 3
Euro Cup, semi-finals, 1st leg
18.00 DiGi Oradea (ROU) v CC Ortigia (ITA)
19.00 AN Brescia (ITA) v ZF-Eger (HUN)
