Hungary claim the lead in Group 5

The final Women’s EHF EURO 2016 Qualification Phase 2 match on Wednesday evening ended with a victory for a revitalised Hungary side, who now take the top spot in Group 5 with six points.

GROUP 5

Poland vs Hungary 24:27 (13:13)

Poland coach Kim Rasmussen’s experienced squad was much the same as the one that eliminated Wednesday’s visitors at the World Championship in December, but it came up against a re-energised Hungary with two new, albeit temporary, coaches and some shuffling of players.

Unlike in their Denmark 2015 game in December, it was Hungary that were faster out of the blocks when the match began.

The visitors were the first on the board with the shot coming from a most unusual first scorer – goalkeeper Eva Kiss.

Poland responded before Hungary recorded a 3:0 run to create a 4:1 lead that left the home side working hard to catch up.

Marta Gega levelled the score for Poland for the first time at 9:9 just before the 20-minute mark, and from there the contest heated up.

Hungary led the way to the half-time buzzer, always a nose in front, but Kinga Achruk ensured Poland were on equal footing for the start of the second period with a goal inside the last 30 seconds of the half.

Achruk’s effort was not enough, however.

When the match resumed Hungary reclaimed control, creating a two-goal advantage courtesy of Ildiko Erdösi.

The 17:15 difference was the turning point, after which Hungary capitalised on every opportunity and Poland began to struggle. It was not long before Hungary led by four, and after Kinga Klivinyi took the visitors five in front for the first time Rasmussen called a time-out.

Rasmussen was rewarded for his decision with Poland scoring the first two goals after the time-out, but that was as close as the home team came to levelling the score again.

Tension was high as the match entered the final 10 minutes, and both sides had trouble finding the goal under the pressure.

After Krisztina Triscsuk took the score to 26:22 with seven minutes left, there were no goals until three were scored in the final two minutes, but they did not change the outcome.

Hungary are now first on the Group 5 table with Poland second on four points and Slovakia on two after their victory against Finland earlier on Wednesday evening.