Györi win in Koprivnica

For HC Podravka Vegeta in Group A of the EHF Women’s Champions League defeat came in the sixth round. The Croatian champions could not cope with the strength of favourites, Györi Audi ETO of Hungary, who defeated them by 33:40.

However, bittersweet the defeat, there was a moment of celebration for HC podravka as Marijan Domovic, director of Podravka Vegeta, presented flowers to team captain Bozica Palcic in recognition of her 101st CL match.

Convincing Györi

The home team started very well and in the ninth minute the result was level at 6:6. But after that the Hungarians began to fire with both barrels and the first half ended with a convincing lead of 12:21

In the second half, Györi continued to widen the gap, led by Bradeanu and Mravikova. Zdravko Zovko, Coach of HC Podravka Vegeta, tried everything in his power, but his players could not withstand the superior skill of the Hungarians. The only player that seemed to put up a resistance was the right wing player Natalija Todorovska. Only in the closing minutes of the match did Podravka manage to shorten the gap, for the final match result of 33:40.

The best player of the match was Anita Görbicz who scored 8 goals. Aurelia Bradeanu scored 7 and Katarina Mravikova 6 goals respectively. For HC Podravka, Natalija Todorovska was the top scorer for her team with 8 goals.

“Györi was simply the better team in all positions. We had a bad day, we tried everything, but nothing worked” said Todorovska after the match.

When it became obvious that Podravka, did not stand a chance of winning against their superior opponent, Zovko used the match to collect valuable experience for one of his most promising players, 17-year old goalkeeper Marta Zderic – the future of Croatian handball.

Podravka Vegeta focuses on the Cup Winners' Cup

Györi got their sixth consecutive win and now goes to main round as first team of group A. HC Podravka Vegeta finished third and goes to last 16 of Cup Winners' Cup where the Croatians have some unfinished business.

In 2005, HC Podravka played in finals of Cup Winners' Cup and was defeated by Larvik. Also, in 2001 and 2006 HC Podravka Vegeta played in finals of the EHF Cup. This time they plan to go all the way and win the Cup Winners' Cup trophy.