Rostov-Don get better of Odense

The final Women's EHF Champions League Main Round match for Rostov-Don and Odense HC could not alter the finishing positions in Group 1, but there was plenty of pride to play for in a competitive encounter. In the reverse fixture, the Russian champions won in Denmark 30:26, and on home court, they were once again stronger, winning this time 25:19.

• Rostov-Don finished second in Group 1; Odense finished in fourth

• Anna Sen was Rostov-Don's top scorer with six goals

• Ingvild Bakkerud (nine goals) scored almost half of Odense’s goals 

GROUP 1
Rostov-Don (RUS) vs Odense HC (DEN) 25:19 (14:10)

Odense started the match better than Rostov-Don and took a 2:0 lead after two fast breaks. However, Rostov-Don soon woke up and took control of the match. In the 14th minute, Anna Sen’s shot pulled the hosts in front for the first time, 6:5.

A week before at Buducnost, Rostov-Don had won but none of their players scored more than three goals. But this time, Sen and Viktoriya Borshchenko scored four goals each in the first half alone, helping Rostov-Don to lead 14:10 after the first half.

Goalkeeper Anna Sedoykina made many saves for Rostov-Don, helping her team to consolidate their advantage after the break. Odense travelled to Russia without a few injured key players, including right back Mette Tranborg, and although Ingvild Bakkerud scored nine of the team’s 19 goals, Rostov had no trouble clinching the victory and won by six goals (25:19).

"We lost to a better team today. We had a good start to the match, but Rostov fought their way back and got ahead quickly after our lead. In several periods of the game, we play very well in both our offence and defence, but we did not manage to close the gap that Rostov made in the middle of the first half,” said Jan Pytlick, Odense HC head coach.

"It was important to show our fans good game, especially after being defeated by Metz. We have had a lot of games, we had injured players, but we are satisfied," said Vladlena Bobrovnikova, Rostov-Don left back.