Brest on top of group after second convincing win

Meshkov Brest are in great form after their win over Tatran Presov at home, but it is Vojvodina everyone will be talking about today.

Their surprise win over Chekhovskie Medvedi marks their first win in Europe’s elite competition.

There is a tight race for second place, as La Rioja, Vojvodina, Porto and Chekhovskie Medved are all on two points.

Tatran Presov need huge improvement if they are to be in with a shout. 

Tatran Presov vs HC Meshkov Brest 20:30 (11:14)

Two SEHA League competitors met in Group C in the opening match. 

Meshkov Brest recorded their biggest ever Champions League win last week against Vojvodina, and they were again close to rewriting their club’s history. 

The hosts have been without a win in top European competition since 2008 and Meshkov Brest made the Slovakian club wait even longer. 

The spotlight was on Dainis Kristopans before the game. Kristopans, who is the tallest player in the competition, left Presov last season to join the Belarusian club. 

And he one was the key figure in Brest’s aggressive and commanding defence.  

On the other side stood Vladimir Bozic. 

The Croatian goalkeeper has spent two years in Brest, however, onSaturday it was not his day and he left the court with zero saves; he was replaced by Igor Chupryna in ninth minute after conceding five goals in a row. 

Nikulenkau gave Brest the lead in the early stages of the game, as the Belarusian side built on their lead steadily.

Presov kept up only for the first half, Antl scored in the 16^th minute to close the gap to one goal, but it was mission impossible for Tatran against Sergey Bebesko’s 6-0 defence. 

Viacheslav Sadovyi was the only player to score for the home team in the first 13 minutes. 

Brest were superior in one against one situations, and looked to find gaps in Presov’s defence using the width of the pitch effectively. 

The half-time score was fair, but there was no doubt about the winner. 

In the second half the gap continued to grow and by the 39^th minute, when Maxim Babichev put them eight up, the match was fully in the hands of Brest. 

Chupryna did his best, but a few quick counter attacks finished by Vukic were deadly for Presov. 

Rastislav Trtik took a timeout in the 38^th minute as Brest scored three in a row.

The visitors even missed several good counter attacks chances, but still had the game under control. 

The game ended with the home side losing again by ten, after losing by ten in Porto a week ago. 

Rastislav Trtik spoke after the game:  “Brest were superior. In first half we were in the game, in second half we rushed forward and shot badly. They have more quality.”

His counterpart, Sergey Bebeshko was full of praise for his team: “We came to Presov to win the game. We prepared for the match very well and dominated it especially in the second half.” 

Naturhouse La Rioja (SPA) vs Futebol Clube de Porto (POR) 30:23 (10:12)

After the Portuguese champions recorded their biggest ever win last week in the VELUX EHF Champions League, 33:23, against TATRAN Presov, Ricardo Costa’s team took the game to Naturhouse La Rioja, who finished second in the Spanish league last season.

A careful defence, an efficient offence and an impressive team spirit saw Porto grab a three-goal lead, 11:8, in the dying minutes of the first half. 

But the game was turned on its head in the first nine minutes of the second half. 

Porto failed to score a goal and the hosts powered to a 17:12 lead, after scoring seven in a row. 

"The second half was very difficult and although we tried to stop them we could'nt," Costa said.

La Rioja continued to put their mark on the game, as the game ended 30:23 for the Spanish outfit.

It was Alberto Val Sancho, the hosts’ huge two-meter tall line player, who spearheaded La Rioja’s comeback with an unstoppable effort scoring five goals out of five shots in the second half. 

"We are very happy with the win against such a strong team but we are also sad because our team's pivot, Javier Garcia, suffered a bad injury," Jota Gonzalez, Naturhouse La Rioja coach said.

Former Baia Mare right back, Cristian Malmagro, was the Spanish team’s top scorer with nine goals.

Vojvodina (SRB) vs Chekhovskie Medvedi (RUS) 26:24 (12:13)

Vojvodina caused the big upset of the day in Group C with their first ever VELUX EHF Champions League win. Chekhovskie Medvedi on the other hand, leave Serbia nothing but frustrated. 

The game was dramatic from the very first minute through till the last. After Luka Arsenic made two fine saves in fifth minute of the game, Filip Marjanovic, the top scorer for the home team (11 goals), gave the outsiders from Novi Sad lead for the first time. 

It was a tight contest, but Vojvodina looked to be superior in the first half with Marjanovic very dangerous from the wing. 

Dmitry Kovalev’s efficiency kept the ‘Bears’ in the game, but when Pavel Andreev hit the post in the 18th minute and Strahinja Stankovic sent the hosts four goals ahead 9:5, things looked good for Vojvodina.

The Serbian fans were already thinking ahead to one of the biggest shocks of the day.

Once again coaching legend Vladimir Maximov showed his brilliance. He replaced Oleg Grams, the hero against La Rioja in the opening round, with Dmitry Pavlenko and things started to look brighter for the Russians – but not for long. 

One minute before the end of the first half Kovalev equalised, only for defensive specialist Alexander Chernoivanov to give Medvedi a one-goal lead seconds before the break.

After the break it was a tight match, but in the end the Bears had no answer for Arsenic. A crucial save of a Kovalev (10 goals) penalty throw in the last minute only highlighted the fantastic performance of Vojvodina’s goalkeeper.