Mios with important away win in Szczecin

It was the French side who started brighter, but they were asked a lot of difficult questions in defence in the second half; showing their experience they managed to come away with a one-goal win ahead of the second leg.

Challenge Cup Final, Leg 1

Pogon Baltica Szczecin vs Union Mios Biganos-Begles 20:21 (7:10)

Mios started the game in the best possible of way, only conceding one goal in the first ten minutes.

This was thanks to the French defence being really well set up and the Polish side could not find any solutions, apart from Solomija Sywerska who had a bright start.

And even though the goalkeeper was stopping some shots, after twenty minutes Mios were three goals ahead, 8:5. The Szczecin coach decided to change his defence, but this had little to no effect.

Mireya Gonzalez proved to be very efficient for Mios and thanks to their Spanish left back, Mios went back to the dressing room with a three-goal advantage (10:7).

But Szczecin completely changed their style playing after the break. With a more aggressive defence and more precision in attack they managed to pull it even after the first three minutes of the second half.

From then on, the game was tied and no team really took any advantage.

Julie Foggea's saves, however, once gifted a four-goal advantage (17:13) to the French outfit twelve minutes from the end.

The Polish side, backed by their fans, made a fierce come back right at the end pulling it even 19:19 four minutes shy of the buzzer.

But Mios showed their experience and set up Myriam Borg nicely giving Mios the victory (21:20).

Cebula and Stasiak were Szczecin’s top scorers with four goals each while Maubon also netted four for the French side.

Manu Mayonnade Mios' coach was a bit disappointed that they only won by one goal: "We could have hoped for better since were leading by more during the game. We knew Szczecin are a good opponent and they proved that today."

Adrian Struzik wasn't too happy either about the results stating: "We didn't play well in the important phases right at the end. Nothing is really decided yet though. We lacked experience and we made terrible mistakes in the first half. I'm looking forward to a huge game next week in Mios."