Vardar demolish Larvik in Skopje

Vardar demonstrated superiority during the first half gaining a seven-goal advantage which was doubled during the second half and gave them a high-scoring victory of 34:20 (16:9) over the Norwegian opponent Larvik.

With this result Vardar have continued their winning run marking their fifth consecutive victory and opened the door to the FINAL 4 tournament in Budapest.

Larvik, on the other hand, will have a chance to make amends in the return match on 10 April in Norway.

QUARTER-FINAL, 1st LEG

HC Vardar (MKD) vs Larvik (NOR) 34:20 (16:9)

The Macedonian champions are finally back on track with four consecutive victories.

In addition, the Russian right back Tatiana Khmyrova missed five crucial matches, but she finally made a comeback in the Jane Sandanski arena for the quarter-final clash against Larvik.

When it comes to injuries the same situation marked Larvik throughout of the season, but yet this didn’t represent an obstacle for the Norwegian champions who booked the second spot in the Main Round.

Stalwart Anja Edin-Hammerseng was ruled out of action due to a thumb injury.

After a superb performance against Buducnost, Barbara Lazovic and Amandine Leynaud were the players that made the difference in the opening minutes of the match forcing Larvik coach Tor Odvar Moen to call both timeout breaks in the opening minutes of the clash.

Vardar had a great defence causing the guests to make many technical mistakes.

Scoring from all positions Vardar simply demolished the Norwegian champions and had an 11-goal difference in the middle of the first half (12:1).

Finally the thirteen minutes of “silence” were stopped when Sanna Solberg scored only the second goal for Larvik in this game.

Three consecutive goals series followed from Larvik when the season’s top scorer Nora Mørk scored her first goal from the seven-meter line.

Both wingers Amanda Kurtovic and Thea Mørk were also successful against Leynaud reducing the 11-goal gap (13:6).

It seemed that the Norwegians finally found their way back to the game but then Jovanka Radicevic scored her third goal giving Vardar at the half-time break a seven-goal advantage (16:9).

The second half continued in the same fashion, but the Norwegians didn’t wave the “white flag” just yet and continued with their struggle led by Nora Mørk.

Nevertheless Penezic, Radicevic and Leynaud simply didn’t let their opponent to come back into the game increasing the lead once again (30:18), and finally seeing out the game for a comfortable win.

Top scorer for Vardar was Penezic with 8 goals, while Nora Mørk scored 6 on the opposite side.

“I don’t know where to begin. They played fantastic and were much better prepared than we were.

“We had a bad start and we were insecure in offence and with this gave Vardar chances for fast breaks and they used them.

“Perhaps the national team break had influence on us because we didn’t have time to get back on track. We were shell shocked in this match tonight,” admitted Larvik head coach Tor Odvar Moen.    

“We said before the game that a tough and aggressive defence will be the key in this match.

“We showed this today and the fact that Larvik scored their second goal on the 17-minute mark,” concluded Indira Kastratovic, head coach of Vardar.