Biggest-ever win for Brest show their intent

There was no question regarding the winner of the tie between Brest and SCM Ramnicu Valcea, as the French side opened the game with a 3:0 run and rode their superb attacking performance until the end, when they snatched another two points, 37:24.

It was Brest’s biggest ever win in the DELO WOMEN’S EHF Champions League, as the previous record was a 12-goal win, 39:27, against Savehof.

• Brest will face Bietigheim twice in the next two rounds, as they can secure a main round berth with two wins against the German side

• Valcea had no idea how to stop the free-flowing Brest attack, who already scored 35 goals last week against Buducnost

• The Romanian side will face the Montenegrin powerhouse in the next two weeks

• Valcea’s coach, Florentin Pera, had health issues before the game and spent a night in a hospital in Brest before the game

• Line player Sladana Pop-Lazic and left back Kalidiatou Niakate were Brest’s best scorers, with six goals apiece

GROUP C


Brest Bretagne Handball (FRA) vs SCM Ramnicu Valcea (ROU) 37:24 (22:9)

One week ago, SCM Ramnicu Valcea were in the zone, scoring 34 goals against Bietgheim to throw off the season with a great win.

This time around, the Romanian champions collapsed in the first half, as their attacking efficiency plummeted to 35 per cent in the first half, in what proved to be a real test in the DELO WOMEN’S EHF Champions League.

Their defence failed to contain Brest’s attack, the goalkeepers did not make the needed saves, while Alicia Fraga Fernandez and Iryna Glibko, Valcea’s best backs were out of breath.

But not even the most confident Brest fan did not expect for their favourite team to boast a 22:9 lead after 30 minutes, as Serbian line player Sladana Pop-Lazic was unstoppable.

A 13-goal advantage was impossible to cancel from Valcea, despite left wing Ann Grete Nørgaard’s best efforts. The Danish veteran scored nine goals, but the Romanian side had nothing left in the tank, with coach Florentin Pera failing to rally the team around him, after spending one night in the hospital in Brest, due to stomach pains.

Therefore, Brest cruised to their biggest ever win in the competition, 37:24, with another superb attacking performance, after the 35 goals put past Buducnost last week.

The French side earned their second win in a row and top the table, with huge chances to progress to the next round, as a doubleheader with last-placed Lublin in the next rounds.

Meanwhile, Valcea will have to get back to the drawing board and try and stop Buducnost in the next two games, which could prove pivotal to their fate in the competition.