Serbia let clear lead slip from their hands against Iceland

Serbia and Montenegro from Group 4 were the hosts of the last two matches in Round 4 of the EHF EURO 2016 Qualification on Sunday.

While Serbia let a three-goal lead slip from their hands to eventually draw with Iceland, Montenegro climb to the top of this group after beating Israel 33:27.

The EHF EURO 2016 Qualification will conclude with two rounds, played on 10/11 and 13/14 June 2015.

The two best teams from each group and the overall best third.ranked team will qualify for the final tournament, for which the draw takes place on 19 June in Krakow.

Group 4: Serbia vs. Iceland 25:25 (13:11)

Serbia had recovered from their biggest defeat in history (22:38 on Wednesday in the first leg), and were on the edge of a true revenge before they eventually faltered.

When Momir Ilic scored for the 25:22 only two and a half minutes were left on the clock, and all fans in Nis expected a Serbian win.

But things changed quickly: Iceland scored three times within just 103 seconds to set up a highly thrilling final minute.

Serbian coach Dejan Peric took his timeout 30 seconds before the final buzzer, but his team lost the ball. With 15 seconds to play, Icelandic coach Aron Kristjansson took another timeout, but also his team also missed the great chance to win.

Hence both sides enter the final two qualification rounds with five points on their account – and both will face the no. 1 team of this group, Montenegro, in June.

Iceland were hit hard as they had to replace Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, who had scored twelve times in the first leg but was suffering from neck problems. Alexander Petterson also missed the match.

Serbia led for most of the match, but were never able to create a decisive lead despite six goals of Momir Ilic and five of Davor Cutura.

Best Icelandic scorer was Vignir Svarasson with five goals.

Group 5: Montenegro vs. Israel 33:27 (16:13)

Montenegro again proved their strength at home: After having beaten Iceland in November, on Sunday Israel was left without a chance.

With five minutes left to play in the first half Montenegro had created a three-goal lead which they also took into the break.

And it did not take them long in the second half to virtually decide the game in their favour, when Fahrudin Melic scored for the 22:16 in the 39th minute. The team's biggest intermediate advantage was seven goals at 28:21.

The third win in the fourth match for Montenegro means that they secured the top in Group 5 was secured.

Best scorer for Israel, who still wait for their first point in this campaign, was Yossef Appo with seven goals.