Larvik, FTC and Krim go on winning

Larvik HK in Group 1 as well as FTC Rail Cargo and Krim Mercator in Group 2 still have maximum points after the Sunday matches in the Main Round. However, Larvik and FTC had to work particularly hard to get their wins against Budućnost T-Mobile and Zvezda Zvenigorod, who are both still without points, while Krim managed to book a somewhat clearer win at home against Oltchim Vâlcea who are also still looking for their first point.

Group 1
Buducnost T-Mobile vs. Larvik HK 18:20 (9:8)

Larvik booked their second win in succession, while Budućnost lost for the second time in a row, but the Montenegrin champions did considerably better than in the ten goal defeat in their opening match against Györ. Actually, the match remained open until the last minute on a day, where the goalkeepers seemed to have agreed to show the utmost. Clara Woltering by Budućnost and Cecilie Leganger in the Larvik goal made the working conditions hard for the attacking players on both sides, and this resulted in a match with relatively few goals.

Larvik got the best start the could have dreamt of, as they were leading 2:0 after only two minutes, both goals scored by Linn Jørum Sulland. The Norwegians managed to keep this two goal lead at 3:1 and 5:3, but loudly supported by the 4,500 spectators in Podgorica, Budućnost managed to get back and even be one up at half time.

The hosts opened the second half by increasing the lead to two goals, and as they copied this achievement at 16:14 in the middle of the half, they seemed to be heading for the win in this low-scoring match, where even a two goal lead might appear to be almost decisive.

However, thanks to Leganger´s third seven meter save among other things, the visitors caught up once again and take the lead again at 19:18. What followed after that were some very nervous last minutes, where neither team seemed able to score. Not until Sulland decided the matter with her sixth goal which made it 20:18 with 25 seconds left.
 
Group 2
FTC Rail Cargo Hungaria vs. Zvezda Zvenigorod 35:34 (18:17)

FTC booked their second successive one goal win, while Zvezda lost for the second time in a row, as the Hungarians won 35:34 at home Sunday afternoon.

Even though the difference was only one goal at the end, the Hungarian win was actually clearer, than the final result indicates.

With one minute left, the home team was leading by three, 35:32, and the match was decided. Only a Russian seven meter goal after the end of the ordinary time reduced the distance to one at the end.

Before that, the 2,498 enthusiastic spectators had seen a close and thrilling match. After an equal start, FTC managed to benefit from two two minutes suspensions for Zvezda within just five seconds after ten minutes.

The hosts used those  nearly two minutes with two players more on the court to take a 9:7 lead, and even with both teams at full strength, the lead was increased to three goals at 11:8 and four at 13:9.

After 23 minutes FTC´s Spanish right back Nerea Pena had to leave the match with a knee injury, and that seemed to shock the home team momentarily, as Zvezda managed to catch up again.

However, even though Pena scored 10 goals in FTC´s 23:22 away against Oltchim Vâlcea in the first round, her absence did not stop her team-mates from scoring lots of goals. In stead, Zsuzsanna Tomori took over as top scorer with no less than 15 goals.

After a one goal lead for FTC at half time, Zvezda got the lead once again at 22:23 early in the second half, apart from this, the hosts were in control. The soon got three goals ahead again, and although the visitors managed to reduce the distance to one goal a few times towards the end, FTC kept their nerves under control, and two saves from Alena Abramovich in their goal within the last two minutes and a Tomori´s 15th goal on the following attack made the Hungarian triumph complete.

RK Krim Mercator vs. C. S. Oltchim Rm. Vâlcea 28:24 (13:10)

Andrea Penezić celebrated her own little show, scoring 11 goals, as she and her team-mates from Krim followed their five goal away win against Zvezda in the first round up with a four goal triumph at home against Vâlcea who are still without any points in the group. The Romanians managed to put their opponents under pressure for parts of the match, but Krim were the better team over the 60 minutes.

Vâlcea were only leading a few times at the start of the match, but Krim soon got up by two goals, and that lead was doubled, before the distance was three goals at half time.

After the break the visitors managed to reduce the difference to one goal a few times, but Krim soon made a comfortable distance again, and at the end the Slovenians had no real problems to decide the matter.