Vardar and Györ storm into Main Round

HC Vardar and Györi Audi ETO KC romped into the Women’s EHF Champions League Main Round with two games to spare after impressive performances on Sunday.

Macedonian giants Vardar blew away Denmark’s FC Midtjylland thanks to a rampant second half while Györ, the 2013 and 2014 winners, brushed aside the section’s bottom team Hypo Niederösterreich.

Group C

FC Midtjylland (DEN) vs HC Vardar (MKD) 15:25 (11:12)

If the second half of their overwhelming victory against FC Midtjylland is anything to go by, Vardar will emerge as genuine contenders to win their first title in Europe’s premier club handball competition.

Such was the intensity of Vardar’s aggressive and mobile defence, that Midtjylland were reduced to scoring just one goal in the opening 18 minutes of the second period, allowing the visitors to carve out a whopping 20:12 lead before the home straight.

Aiming to bounce back from a 33:24 defeat in the reverse fixture in the previous round, the home side held their own in the first half after taking an early 2:0 lead.

However, they were dealt a bitter blow in the 10th minute, when their first choice goalkeeper Sabine Englert landed awkwardly after a fine save and made way for her understudy Ana Vojcic.

The 26-year old Serbian produced several good stops but was unable to contain compatriot Andrea Lekic, who pulled all the strings for Vardar, scoring five goals in the opening period while also dishing out several assists.

With the wingers cut off on both sides, Vardar relied on their backcourt firepower as Andrea Penezic and Barbara Lazovic added two goals each for the visitors, while Louise Burgaard led FCM with three and Stine Jorgensen netted two at the other end.

Then came the second-half whirlwind by Vardar, who scored four quick-fire goals to pull away as their brilliant goalkeeper Inna Suslina closed shop to frustrate the Danish side.

The Russian picked off Midtjylland’s shots like ripe cherries from a tree as the visiting defenders forced the home side into a barrage of difficult and harmless long-range shooting.

Right wing Sara Ristevska was Vardar’s trump card in the second half, scoring three goals for her team, while pivot Anja Althaus also found gaps on the six-metre line to compound the demolition job.

An in-flight goal by Alena Ikhneva with only a few seconds left on the clock put the icing on the cake for Vardar, who are tied at the top of the group with Györi Audi ETO KC on six points each before their mouth-watering clash in the next round.

Lekic led a pack of 10 Vardar scorers with six goals, while Althaus added four. Burgaard scored three from 11 shots at the other end and Jorgensen had an equally tough afternoon with two from 10.

Györi ETO Audi KC (HUN) vs Hypo Niederösterreich (AUT) 37:16 (17:9)

Merely seven years ago, Hypo Niederösterreich experienced an agonising loss in the Women’s EHF Champions League final at the hands of Zvezda Zvenigorod.

The four-time winner has been freefalling ever since as the Austrian side has failed to reach the main round in the last five years.

However, no team has ever beaten Hypo by more than 20 goals in the European premium competition that was until they met their Hungarian rivals, Györ, who outscored them by 21 - 37:16.

It was all Györ from start to finish, as the Hungarian powerhouse started with a 4:0 run after only four minutes. The difference was clear for everyone to see as Hypo had no answer in defence for Györ’s attacking prowess.

If Ambros Martin’s side did not go full gas in the teams’ match up in the previous round, his side did not stop in this match, even when they took a 17:9 lead into half-time.

Hypo managed to score only two goals in the first 18 minutes of the second half, while Györ continued to pounce in attack, as the difference in score and skill soared.

It was no surprise that the hosts earned their most conclusive win ever in the Women’s EHF Champions League - 37:16 – which passed their previous record, 41:22, ironically, also against their Austrian counterparts.

Heidi Loke and Zsuzsanna Tomori were Györ’s top scorers, with eight goals each, as the Hungarian side earned a safe passage for the next round.

On the other side, the Austrians have a mountain to climb to proceed to the next round. Not only do they have to win their last two games, against Vardar and FC Midtjylland, they also need a 12-goal win against the Danes, who have to lose their last game against Györ.

Mission impossible?