Poland progress to final after goal fest

The winners of Saturday’s semi-finals at the Women’s 19 EHF Championship in Bulgaria may not have surprised many, but the manner in which Serbia and Poland won their encounters provided plenty to talk about.

Both sides were pushed hard by their opponents, Serbia by Ukraine’s fierce defensive display and Poland by the hosts’ firepower in attack.

Match details can be found HERE. All matches will be streamed on ehfTV.com.

Women’s 19 EHF Championship Semi-finals
Serbia vs Ukraine 22:18 (10:10)

The Serbians came into the semi-final on the back of a flawless preliminary round, in which they conceded an average of less than 14 goals per game. Ukraine had shown their ability to score, but would need a massive defensive display to stand a chance.

And that is exactly what they did. Despite an early red card for starting keeper Viktoriia Saltaniuk, Ukraine kept within touching distance throughout the first half, before drawing level by half-time.

However, Serbia came flying out of the blocks in the second half, going on a 5:0 run to turn the contest on its head. Ukraine tried to fight back, but with the likes of Jovana Jovovic consistently finding the back of the net, Serbia could not be reeled back and secured their spot in the final.

Poland vs Bulgaria 36:30 (22:19)

The second semi-final was an entirely different affair. In fact, it produced more goals than the previous game in the first half alone.

Marinela Panayotova set the tone for what would be an incredible performance, scoring eight of her 13 goals in the first half, but Poland were firing in goals from everywhere and held a 22:19 lead at the break.

Slowly but surely, Poland managed to sort out their defensive woes and it paid dividends in the final 10 minutes as they stretched their lead one last time, which the hosts had no answer to.

That victory sets up a fascinating final against Serbia on Sunday, throwing off at 18:00 hrs local time.

Follow the Women’s 19 EHF Championship in Bulgaria

All games of the Women’s 19 EHF EURO will be live on ehfTV.com.

For all the match throw-off times click HERE.

For the official competition website click HERE.