Motor take big step towards progression

HC Motor Zaporozhye took a major step towards the play-offs for the Last 16, winning 25:23 at home against one of their closest rivals, HCM Baia Mare.

GROUP D

HC Motor Zaporozhye (UKR) vs HCM Baia Mare (ROU) 25:23 (14:11)

With their two-goal win at home, Zaporozhye took a huge step closer to the play-offs for the Last 16.

And the win was actually more secure than the result indicates.

Motor got the far better start and took a quick 3:0 lead, which was extended to 6:2 before the visitors started to work themselves into the game.

Baia Mare never managed to catch up completely, though, as a one-goal deficit was the closest they got.

The Baia Mare defence had particular problems with Motor’s back court, consisting of Sergii Burka in left back, Barys Pukhouski in the middle and Sergey Shelmenko on the right.

Those three players scored 17 of Motor’s 25 goals, Burka and Pukhouski being particularly effective with eight and six goals respectively.

The back court players of Motor played a big part in keeping the visitors at a distance.

After Baia Mare had managed to reduce the distance to one goal at 6:5 and 7:6, Motor were soon able to create a reassuring distance again, and after leading by three goals at half-time, they went five goals ahead late in the second half - before Baia Mare managed to reduce the deficit a bit towards the end.

Motor are now leading Group D with 12 points, while Baia Mare still have a good chance of proceeding to the play-offs with their nine points.

The Romanian champions had their top goal scorer in their Bosnian centre back Ivan Karacic with eight goals.