Powerful Buducnost win in Baia Mare

Only a miracle can help HCM Baia Mare in the second leg, after Buducnost survived a second-half scare to power on to a 29:24 win in Baia Mare.

The return leg will take place in Podgorica on 10 April.

QUARTER-FINAL, 1st LEG

HCM Baia Mare (ROU) vs Buducnost (MNE) 24:29 (10:17)

While Buducnost have not been the same impossible team to beat from last season, the Montenegrin side was overwhelming favourites to progress to their third consecutive Women’s EHF FINAL4.

But Baia Mare had been in amazing form in the Main Round, winning five from their six games.

This was the main reason why Dragan Adzic advised his team to be careful and work hard in defense.

It was the defense-first mentality that had Buducnost take the lead and impose their game style, seeing the current title holders jump to a 10:3 lead after only 18 minutes of play, in which only Allison Pineau scored for the hosts.

It was Dragan Adzic’s tactical nous that made it impossible for the hosts to score, as Abbingh, Elisei and Do Nascimento were neutralised by Buducnost’s aggressive defense.

Baia Mare’s costly mistakes were quickly penalized by the guests, with a flurry of counter-attacks that could not be stopped by Ionica Munteanu, as Baia Mare continued to lose ball after ball.

With a seven-goal lead at half-time, 17:10, it seemed Buducnost were cruising to their third consecutive FINAL4 berth.

However, Baia Mare were not giving up so easy and mounted an incredible comeback in the second half.

Powered by 3,000 die-hard fans, the Romanian side found their way back and erased the deficit in the first 20 minutes, after the score read 14:8 Buducnost seemed to lack ideas in attack - relying too much on Cristina Neagu.

But it was Neagu who then scored two consecutive goals that prompted Buducnost to again tighten their grip on the game.

The title holders’ experience and defense was enough to see them through, claiming an unexpectedly hard 29:24 win.

Allison Pineau was HCM’s top scorer, with seven goals from twelve shots, as Buducnost had Cristina Neagu (eight goals) and Radmila Petrovic (seven goals) as their top scorers.

With this result in mind, Baia Mare would need a flawless game next Sunday to stand a chance, but the Romanian side have a mountain to climb with the odds being heavily stacked against them; Buducnost’s last home loss came in March 2013 against Györi Audi ETO KC.

Dragan Adzic, coach of Buducnost, was happy with his team's performance after the match: "First of all, I would like to congratulate HCM Baia Mare for the way they have played.

"I am content with my team because this match has come after a long period of time without any matches for us.”

Aurelian Rosca, coach of HCM Baia Mare, on the other hand, praised the quality of their opponents: ”Even from today's game, one can easily see why Buducnost are the best team in Europe.

"We have met today a team that is used to playing only at the highest level.

"There have been moments when we matched our opponents level - that was nice.”