Nexe earn first points while Granollers go top of group

There were clear home wins in both matches on Sunday to wrap up this weekend’s action in the Men’s EHF Cup Group Phase.

RK Nexe defeated Finnish champions Cocks 31:24 in Group C while Fraikin BM. Granollers won by six goals (32:26) against the Polish group phase debutants, Azoty Pulawy, in Group D.

• Nexe and Granollers got their first win in the group phase

• Cocks remained level with Nexe for 40 minutes before slumping to a clear defeat

• After last week’s draw, Granollers are undefeated after two rounds

GROUP C

RK Nexe (CRO) vs Cocks (FIN) 31:24 (16:16)

After their narrow 30:27 opening defeat against Frisch Auf Göppingen, Nexe got their first win in the group phase though they had to work harder for their victory than the final result might indicate.

In fact, they were not able to create a difference until the last 20 minutes.

Cocks were leading by a goal or two for most of the first half, and after half-time (16:16), the teams swapped a one-goal lead several times in the first 10 minutes.

But then Sasa Barisic scored one of his nine goals in total to give Nexe their first two-goal lead (22:20), which would lead to the decision in the match.

Nexe scored four more unanswered goals to go 26:20 up. They further increased their lead to seven (28:21) shortly afterwards and maintained that lead for the rest of the match.

Post-match statements:

Hrvoje Horvat, Nexe coach: “In the first half our defence was not good but in the second half we managed to break the way and score some easy goals.”

Marko Buvinić, Nexe right wing: “It was a tough game and a deserved victory for us. Cocks were a hard opponent, just like we thought before the match.”

Gintaras Savukynas, Cocks coach: “We played well until the 45th minute but then stopped and the home team took advantage.”

Aliaksandr Tsitou, Cocks line player: “We played very well in first half and maybe missed out on a better result. Nexe is very strong and they took advantage of all our mistakes.”

GROUP D

Fraikin BM. Granollers (ESP) vs KS Azoty-Pulawy SA (POL) 32:26 (21:14)

After their 30:30 opening draw in France against Chambéry last weekend, Granollers got their first win on Sunday evening as group phase debutants Pulawy were clearly defeated in the Palau d´Esports de Granollers.

Granollers were dominating from the start and took an early 5:1 lead, which they increased to eight goals several times even in the first half.

The hosts’ leading margin remained seven of eight goals but with 10 minutes left, the visitors started to crawl closer.

In the 54^th minute the difference was down to four  (29:25) but Pulawy failed to score for the next five minutes, allowing Granollers to easily secure their victory.

With the win, Granollers went top of the group thanks to a better goal difference than Chambéry, while Pulawy are third, one point behind the two top teams.