Szeged win by two after being six down

Bjerringbro-Silkeborg were leading 14:8 at half-time, but through an impressive comeback, Pick Szeged managed to turn the tables and win by two goals – 26:24 – giving themselves a great chance ahead of the return match at home next week.

• Eight goals from Nikolaj Markussen were not enough for Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
• Pick Szeged scored just four goals in the first 20 minutes
• Szeged playmaker Stas Skube was triumphant in the family duel with his older brother, Silkeborg centre back Sebastian

LAST 16 FIRST LEG

Bjerringbro-Silkeborg (DEN) vs MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN) 24:26 (13:8)

Despite being six goals down (10:4) in the first half and 14:8 at the beginning of the second, Hungarian side Pick Szeged managed to take a two-goal lead with them home from the Jysk Arena in Silkeborg Sunday afternoon.

Short on numbers

The home team went into the knockout round missing right wing Johan Hansen, playmaker Allan Damgaard and second goalkeeper Sebastian Frandsen to injury, plus 45-year-old physiotherapist Tom Jensen had to again be backup goalkeeper to Søren Rasmussen.

The visitors had their own problems though, missing Croatian goalkeeper Marin Sego, with 18-year-old Martin Nagy as the only backup to Spanish Jose Manuel Sierra in goal.

Home side, good start

Bjerringbro-Silkeborg had got the far better start due to a very strong defence, which allowed Szeged to score just four goals in the first 20 minutes, moving up to a six-goal lead at half-time (14:8), but the Hungarian side had other ideas in the second period.

Seeing red, then blue

Led on by a well-shooting Sergei Gorbok and an efficient Jonas Källman, the Hungarian side came back, also helped along by an improving Sierra in goal.

With a quarter of an hour left, Denis Buntic equalised for the first time in the match, making it 19:19, and eight minutes later, Källman gave the visitors their first lead at 23:22.

Early in the second half, Szeged lost their way defensively, as left back Alen Blazevic was sent off with a red card, followed by a blue, but this was a bump in the road and it did not hamper the visitors who had the upper hand at that point.

Szeged then went two goals up, as Petrus Dos Santos sealed their win with a goal to make it 26:24 in the last seconds.

“We defended very well in the first half, but unfortunately, we threw things away in the second half, where we were not sharp enough,” said Silkeborg’s right back Nikolaj Øris Nielsen.

“Obviously, it will be tough in the return match now, but of course, anything is still possible, especially if we invest some more physical strength.”