Ukraine win opening match of third EHF EURO 2014 qualification round

The third round of the qualification for the EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark threw off on Tuesday night with a confident Ukrainian 28:24 win against Netherlands.

Eight more matches will be played on Wednesday (3 April), five more on Thursday.

Group 5: Ukraine vs. Netherlands 28:24 (16:10)

After two defeats in autumn 2012 against Poland and Sweden, Ukraine took their first points in the Men’s EHF EURO 2014 qualification, while the Netherlands still remain on zero.

Netherlands kept the game open until the score of 11:10 in the 23rd minute, before the hosts scored five straight goals for the halftime result of 16:10.

The Dutch players improved after the break, but could not manage to come closer than three goals, as the Ukrainians had full control over the entire 60 minutes and were never threatened until the final whistle.

The matches was decided at the latest at 25:20 with five minutes to go on the clock.

Vladyslav Ostroushko and Sergiy Onufrenko scored five goals each for Ukraine, while the best Dutch scorer was Tim Remer who also scored five times.

Depending on the results of the two matches between Sweden and Poland (both have four points so far), Ukraine can continue to hope for the ticket to Denmark, but should pocket another victory on Dutch soil on 7 April.