The CL winners show their best performance so far to win in Croatia by six goals.
Slagelse win in Koprivnica
After losing the first match in Denmark with seven goals, Podravka Vegeta were defeated by Slagelse in Koprivnica as well. The difference was six this time.
Turey and Leganger vs Podravka
Both teams started well scoring goal after goal. Unfortunately for the home fans a bad period came in 12th minute for Podravka. The home team could not score for four minutes and Slagelse (lead by an efficient Tourey) took a crucial advantage (6:9). Then Zovko called a time-out. But it did not help his team and in the 21st minute the Danish team had a four-goal advantage – 7:11. With the efforts of Svitlana Pasicnik, the Croatian champions managed to decrease the margin to 13:15 before the break.
The second half started with four consecutive goals from Slagelse. On the other side, Podravka scored only one goal in ten minutes and the Danish team took a seven-goal lead – 15:22. Zovko tried everything to revive their attacking play, but Leganger stopped many Croatian shots. Slagelse played brilliantly in defence with many goals scored on fast breaks. As expected, the match ended with a clear Slagelse win – 22:28.
Player of the match was Emiliya Tourey with 10 goals. Cecilia Leganger was also great with 15 saves. Svitlana Pasicnik also scored seven goals for Podravka.
Disappointed Zovko, satisfied Andersen
Zdravko Zovko was very disappointed at the end of the game: “We simply played badly. Nothing worked. Our goalkeepers did not save anything and Slagelse were much better in both matches. I’m sorry that we did not show more in front of our fans. Now we can only fight to stay in the European competitions.”
Ania Andersen was satisfied: “I am very happy with this win. I think we can win both remaining matches in our group.”
After four rounds played in Group A, Podravka Vegeta have two points. The Croatians can only fight to stay third to reach Cup Winners’ Cup.
Slagelse got their third victory and with two home matches left they are already in Main Round. But Slagelse want more, the first place in Group A.
TEXT:
Ivan Ambros