Rostov seal group win in Budapest nail-biter

Rostov Don win Group 1 of the Women’s EHF Champions League, but the Russian champion’s trip to FTC cost them their 100 per cent record as the home side came very close to beating the undefeated visitors.

FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria (HUN) vs Rostov Don (RUS) 29:29 (15:13)

Rostov arrived in Budapest to confirm their first spot in Group 1 against the only team that could deprive them from finishing first. Having already beaten Ferencváros at home the Russian side needed a draw to stay on top.

The entire first half was nothing short of a perfect commercial for women’s handball with everything we love this game for. Excellent individual performances from both sides, great saves and beautiful shots sent the sold-out Hungarian crowd into a frenzy.

Teams kept exchanging leading position as the two European heavyweights showed their best. When Katrine Lunde got into the swing of things Rostov were ahead but Melinda Szikora had some strong spell to help her team re-take the lead with goals from Piroska Szamoransky and Nadine Schatzl.

However, the match was more about duells between goalkeepers and backs than about defending as Regina Shymkute and Ekaterina Ilina were busy keeping the visitors in sight.

Ferencváros were in the lead for most of the second half as Luca Szekerczes kept scoring from seven meters and Szandra Zacsik regularly found the net, but did, however, begin to lose steam in the last ten minutes.

The tense game ended in a thriller: Rostov were trailing by one when Pena was sent off and the visitors equalized two minutes from the final whistle.

No more goals were scored, Rostov happily waved goodbye to their 100 per cent record as the draw was enough for them to seal their group win while Ferencváros remain in second spot.

Regina Shymkute of Rostov Don spoke in the press conference post-match: “We played in a big hall, in the front of a lot of people, and this was very strange for us, but we could adapt. We made some mistakes, but if we will learn from it.”

Szamoransky Piroska of FTC: “We gave everything that we could. We played a bad match in Baia Mare, after that we had a tough Hungarian cup match, and now we played a lot better. It wasn't enough to win, but we can hold our heads high.”